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DRIVING 

FRANCI3 M WARE 




Doubled^. Page fe* Cbmpamr 
19 05 



SF; 



' COPY W ' _ 



COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY 
DOUBLED AY, PACE & COMPANY 
PUBLISHED, NOVEMBER, I9O3 



THE OAXTON PRESS 
Hiw YOBI Cmr, U. a A. 



CONTENTS 



I. 


Introductory . 






3 


II. 


Stage-Coaching in Early Times 






7 


III. 


American Vehicles and Evolution . 






21 


IV. 


Stage-Driving in the West 






33 


V. 


Road-Coaching 






41 


VI. 


Driving for Novices 






55 


VII. 


Driving One Horse 






63 


VIII. 


Driving a Pair 






71 


IX. 


Tandem Driving 






77 


X. 


Four-in-Hand Driving . 






83 


XI. 


Manners and Methods of Holding Reins- 
Single, Double, Tandem, Four- and Six- 






in-Hand; Handling the Whip, Etc. . 


93 


XII. 


Driving for Ladies 


105 


XIII. 


Bits and Bitting 


III 


XIV. 


Appointments 


"S 


XV. 


Eccentricities in Appointments 


MS 


XVI. 


Servants, Their Duties, Liveries; Stud-Groom 






Coachman, Grooms, Etc. . 


153 


XVII. 


Equipment, Maintenance, Management anc 


I 




Construction of a Private Stable 


169 


SCVIII. 


Feeding, Grooming, Shoeing, Etc. . 


177 


XIX. 


Stabling and Stalls 


189 


XX. 


Carriages and Their Care 


195 


XXI. 


The Harness and Its Care 


, 


, 


201 



CONTENTS— Con^nwei 



XXII. Show-Ring Horses .... 

XXIII. American Road-Coaching 

XXIV. The Heavy-Harness Horse 
XXV. Type for Purpose 

XXVI. Breeding the Carriage Horse 

XXVII. Driving-Tours .... 

XXVIII. Road-Driving and Appointment 

XXIX. Matinee Racing and Road- Driving . 
XXX. Balancing and Shoeing the Roadster 

XXXI. Road-Riders of Earlier Times 
XXXII. Sleighing and Sleigh Horses 



209 
221 
229 
245 
253 
261 
269 
277 
297 
307 
3^2 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

A Clever Turn Frontispiece 

rACINO PACK 

Road Coach lo 

Park Coach or Drag lo 

General Lafayette's Carriage 22 • 

General George Washington's Private Coach . . 22 

Full-size Opera Bus 22 

Break with Perch 22 

Square Buggy, 1840 24 

American Buggy, 1826 24 

"Jenny Lind," 1840 24 

Borden Trap 24 

Panel Boot Victoria 26 - 

Brougham 26 

The First Brougham 26 

Miniature Victoria 26 

Landau 26 

Useful Country Combination 28 • 

Station Wagon 28 

Outing Wagon 28 

rockaway 28 

High-perch Phaeton . 30 

Cut-under Basket Phaeton with Folding Rumblb . 30 

Royal Spider 30 

Morning Trap 30 

Stanhope Phaeton 30 

Chaise 32 

Gig 32 

Governess Cart 32 

Stanhope Gig 32 

Park Gate Gig 32 



DRIVING 



PACINO PAGB 



Tub Cart for Horse ........ 32 

A Western Stage Road 34 

A Western Stage ........ 36 

A Western Jerk-line Team, Wagon, and Trailer 

(Single jerk rein to near leader only) . . -38 

"All Right!" 48 

Galloping the Hill 52 

Concord Wagon ......... 62 

Pneumatic Road- Wagon with Shifting Top ... 62 

Matinee or Speeding Wagon 62 

A Smart Tandem 80 •^ 

A Galloping Road-Four and Break .... 84 

A Neat Turn 86 . 

A Six-iN-HAND (no Lead Bars) 90 ' 

1. Making Right Point over Forefinger, Overhand 

Clutch, One or a Pair 94 

2. Making Left Point, Overhand Clutch, One or a 

Pair 94 

3. Clutch with Three Lower Fingers .... 94 

4. Road-Driving, Full-hand Clutch. Either Rein 

Readily Shortened by Seizing with Thumb and 
Forefinger of Other Hand and Sliding Relieved 
Hand Forward 94 

I. Driving Roadster, Full-hand Clutch. Off Rein 
on Top, Near Rein Below: Affords Wide Control 
OF Direction by Twisting Hand, Wrist, or Both . 96 

2.. Making Left Point, Finger Clutch, One or a Pair 96 

3. Pull-up or Shortening Clutch, One or a Pair . . 96 

4. Driving-Roadster, Usual Style, but Unsatisfactory 

Because the Two-handed Clutch, which Affords 
Control at Speed, is Not Easily Made ... 96 

1. Second Method of Holding Reins. Near Lead 

Over First Finger; Near Wheel and Off Wheel 
Between First and Second Fingers (Near Rein on 
Top) ; Off Lead Between Second and Third 
Fingers. All Points, etc., Made as Usual . . 98 

2. Second Method. Left Point, Right Opposition . 98 



VIU 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

PACING PAGB 

FouR-iN-HAND, Right Point, Left Opposition by 

Looping Between Fingers 98 

Four-in-hand, Left Point, Right Opposition Be- 
tween Fingers 98 

Six-in-hand, Left Turn, Both Points Taken at 

Same Clutch ; Opposition by Right Hand . . . 100 
Six-iN-HAND, Right Turn, Both Points Taken at 

Same Clutch ; Left Opposition BY Right Hand . 100 
Six-iN-HAND, Slackening Pace or Preparing to Pull 

Up. Left Hand About to Slide Forward to Right 100 
Four-in-hand, Diagonal to Left by Dropping Hand 

to Thigh. Same with One or a Pair . . . 102 
Four-in-hand Pull-up. (N. B. — Possible Only with 

Light-mouthed Horses) 102 

Four-in-hand, Diagonal to Right by Dropping 

Hand to Thigh 102 

Right Point Between First and Second Fingers 102 

Shortening Reins; Left Hand Sliding Up . . 104 
Left Point (Loop Partly Shown), Right Opposition 

Over Thumb 104 

3. Making Left Point, Overhand Clutch . . . 104 

A Convenient Chaise 106 

A Lady's Phaeton 106 

For Town or Park 108 

For the Expert . . no 

Tandem with Bars for Leader. A Very Convenient 

Arrangement . . . . . . . .114 

Runabout Conventionally Appointed .... 126 

Runabout Appointed as it Logically Should Be in 

American Style ........ 126 

A Private (French) Hansom — Appointed . . . 128 

A Private Hansom — Appointed 128 

A "Bachelor's Brougham" 130 

Brougham and Pair ........ 132 

Victoria and Pair 134 

Unicorn Team 136 

Private Omnibus and Three Horses Abreast . . 136 



DRIVING 



PACING PAGB 



Lady's Phaeton AND Pair 138/ 

A Country Phaeton . 140/ 

Governess Cart 140 

Morning Phaeton and Pair 142 j 

Morning Phaeton and Cob . ... . . . 142 

A Jaunting Car 144 ^ 

A Lady's Chaise 144 

Skeleton Gig ......... 146 

Park Gate Gig 146 

Break Cart 148 -^ 

Meadowbrook Cart 148 

Break and Road Four 150/ 

Skeleton Break 150 

"Cocking Cart" and Tandem 152'' 

A "Random" 154''' 

A Tandem Sleigh 156/ 

Basket Beach Wagon 198 • 

End-spring Surrey 198 

Morning Wagon 198 

Beach Wagon 198 

Lady's Phaeton 210^ 

Park Coach and Four (Loin-Straps, ETC., Worn) . 224/ 

Road- Wagon, Low Wheels 270 ' 

One-man Road- Wagon, Low Wheels . . . .270 

The Runner Collars Him 282 

An Easy Win 282 

A Close Finish 282 

A Final Challenge 290 

High-wheel One-man Road-Wagon and Roadster . 308 •' 

High-wheel One-man Road-Wagon, Pair Roadsters . 310 

Maud S., 2.o8f, as a Roadster 312 

Solid Comfort 314 

American Cutter and Pair Roadsters . . . .316 

A Family Sleigh 318 



DRIVING 



DRIVING 

CHAPTER I 




INTRODUCTORY 

HE pastime of driving is unique in that it 
appeals, as does no other pleasure, to all ages, 
sexes, classes and conditions; to the strong and 
the decrepit ; to the bold and the timid. From 
earliest times the possession of a vehicle has 
always been regarded as an emblem of success in life; 
a visible token to all and sundry that the owner or his 
forebears had succeeded in accumulating at least a moiety 
of worldly goods sufficient to enable him to indulge in 
some of the Itixuries attendant upon such enviable 
condition. From our first appearance in this vale of 
tears, our peregrinations have been conducted upon wheels; 
and, even as they furnish us otir first outing, so do 
they provide us with our last. 

What more natural, then, than that wheeled carriages, 
from the perambulator period upward, should exert a fasci- 
nation over even the most prosaic, and afford an object of 
interest to those of every age, from the baby with his tin 
wagon to the ancient in his wheeled chair. That the fancy is 
dormant in many natures and not dominant in many others 
is true, but the slumbering spark awaits only the kindling 
of environment to burst into a sturdy and imquenchable 

3 



DRIVING 

flame; diverted, possibly, temporarily to the bicycle and the 
automobile, but tiring of them in the one case through the 
irksomeness of the attendant labour, in the other through the 
inherent objection which any refined nature feels to stench, 
dirt, turmoil and danger, individual and abstract. 

Like all other pursuits, driving may be treated as an 
art or as a mere means to a desired end. Unlike most 
others, however, there exists an imperative demand for its 
capable performance, not alone that safety may be secvu-ed 
to the charioteer and his accompanying family or friends, 
but that the peripatetic world at large may not, by any 
vagaries of the inexpert, be placed in jeopardy as to life or 
limb. If a man (or woman) owes it to himself and his 
horses to drive thoroughly well, doubly is he under obliga- 
tion to the public that it shall be endangered by no act 
of his; and the individual who, understanding but the merest 
rudiments of his undertaking, wanders about our highways 
and byways a nuisance to all who venture abroad, is as 
dangerous a menace to travellers as can well be imagined; 
the more so because, let the very worst happen, upon his 
thoughtless head never falls a tithe of the blame accruing 
from his criminal ignorance. Beware the average " Sunday- 
and-holiday" jehu as you would an avalanche; watch warily 
his startings, stoppings, turnings and general vague meander- 
ings; and thank yovu* lucky stars if you always escape 
scatheless from the results of his inexcusable inexpertness. 

Merely upon the broad grotmd that anything worth 
doing at all should be done to the best advantage, the art 
of driving deserves much more consideration than we are 
accustomed to award to it. The most ordinary instincts 
of hixmanity should impel us to wish to know that our horses 
are comfortably caparisoned and properly driven; nor are 



INTRODUCTORY 

the hiomblest details beneath our notice. If genius is the 
"capacity for taking infinite pains," capability is the facility 
for admitting the importance of usually unconsidered trifles, 
and there are more of these apparently vmimportant matters 
(which are reaUy vital) connected with the management of 
horses than with any other subject that one can suggest. 
The obvious is by no means the necessarily material in 
equestrianism, and it is to bring to notice many of these 
facts that this book is attempted. 

The thick-skinned and heavy-headed donkey and the 
phlegmatic pony of childhood's days have not a little to 
answer for in connection with indifferent equestrian per- 
formance, in that they submitted to mauling at our infantile 
hands which, unless circumstances allowed our intimate 
subsequent association with horses, proved but a hindrance 
to furthering expertness; and not a few can attribute their 
indifference to equine society to the little wretches which, 
in their childhood's days, they were permitted to haul and 
thrash about. A certain amount of spirit and ability to 
resent abuse is an essential to every child's pet, from the 
kitten up, and not too soon can the infant learn that he 
cannot with impunity tempt vigorous reprisals; nor should 
he ever be allowed to "pick-up" haphazard the art of 
driving, but be as thoroughly tutored in it as in any other 
accomplishment. 

Merely as a means to the end of promoting self- 
dependence, intrepidity, quick decision, coolness, patience 
and a few other virtues, the art of driving should form part 
of the education of every child; lacking the opportunity at 
that age, it is worthy the diligent essaying of every adult. 
Intimate association with horses never did any one harm, 
and there is something lacking in the make-up of any man 

s 



DRIVING 

who does not love them and exiilt in controlling them. 
Driving may safely be classed among the amusements suit- 
able for the gentler sex, and woman's naturally sympathetic 
nature and light touch render her especially adept — given 
proper instruction and supervision — and make her a welcome 
recruit to the ranks of this most imselfish pastime. 

The following chapters attempt to cover the matter at 
issue in an tmtechnical and intelligible manner, and are 
written especially for the novice, and as the result of over 
thirty years' active association with every sort of horse for 
every possible purpose. Nothing arbitrary is intended, and 
nothing more than advice attempted. The chapter upon 
the debatable ground of appointments is intended as a guide, 
and is in no way as authoritative ; nor does the writer for 
an instant mean to do more than call attention to details 
usually (and broadly) accepted as correct. If the best 
interests of the horse and his master are advanced by but 
an infinitesimal degree through this agency, such reward will 
fully compensate for the labour. 



CHAPTER II 

STAGE-COACHING IN EARLY TIMES 

Early stage-coaching in America has suffered, so far as 
the glamour of romance and imagination goes, from the fact 
that it lacked any contemporaneous historian. Those were 
strictly utilitarian times, and, beyond tolerating the vehicles 
and their accessories as a more or less comfortless means 
to the end of necessary travel, our forefathers regarded them 
not at all, and neither in song nor story do we find chronicles 
of what must have been a stirring and most interesting period. 
Coaching in England has perhaps been overfavoured in an 
exactly opposite way, from the fact that, from a very early 
date, the amateur, generally a man of means, and frequently 
inflicted with that sporting " cacoethes scribendi" which 
has cast such a halo over all English sports, was actively 
interested — mdgna pars juit. It is quite probable, how- 
ever, that its actual details were quite prosaic — or, at all 
events, no more romantic than were the incidents of 
American " Down-the-road " life. Of course, we had not 
the English highways, and our average distances were vastly 
longer: our country was too sparsely settled to have it other- 
wise. Then, too, in a comparatively short time, the " hissing 
steam-pot" of the railroad drove "tantivy-trot and traffic" 
into oblivion, and the ancient charioteers were forced first 
into the background of the outlying districts, and then to 
accepting positions on the hated railroads. Myriads of 
taverns — on their mouldering sites — and traditions of huge 
stabling and bustling hotel life afford mementoes of these 



DRIVING 

bustling routes, and there still live a few of the old-timers 
who were for years actively interested not only in driving, 
but also as owners and managers of more than one prosperous 
line and its tributaries. 

As has been the case in later days with the bicycle and 
the automobile, the introduction of coaches in England 
produced much adverse argiiment, and many vigorous 
diatribes were directed against them as tending to obstruct 
the necessarily narrow ways, to impede traffic and to 
endanger foot passengers ; and the same objections were made 
to them in America. Still, carriages were in use here as early 
as 1685, though very rarely, and it is said that as late as 
1772 only thirty-eight private carriages were owned — 
and rarely used — in Philadelphia. The testimony of a 
traveller (English) in Boston in 1740 was to the effect that 
" chaises and saddle hacks (the saddle animals being all 
pacers) were plenty; carriages very rare; and that draught- 
labour was mostly performed by oxen." The type of 
carriage then in use was rather on the lines of the modem 
rockaway, holding from six to twelve people on its three or 
four seats, and entered only from the front by clambering 
upon the shafts or the splinter-bar and thence crawling over 
and under the other passengers to one's seat. The calash, 
the whisky, the chaise, the curricle (the forefathers of the 
buggy) were all in use; while the chariot and the coach 
(on what is now called " concord " lines) were the favourite 
four-wheeled vehicles. 

The earliest-mentioned coach, or " road- wagon," ran from 
Boston to Newport (then a great commercial centre), and 
thence travellers were transported by sailing vessel down 
the Sound to New York. Lines from Boston to Lynn, 
Salem, Gloucester and Providence were shortly in opera- 



EARLY STAGE-COACHING 

tion; and from Boston to New York, New York to Phila- 
delphia, Baltimore, etc. (partly by canal at later date), 
coaches ran regularly and heavily loaded. 

In 1720 the first regular coach line to run fortnightly 
between New York and Philadel]3hia was put on, and traffic 
became so plentiful that three others soon ran in opposition, 
some going straight through each way and others stopping 
at Trenton over night. (It is interesting to remember 
that in 1894 Messrs. E. V. Morrell, Nelson Brown, H. A. 
Caner, E. D. Browning and other Philadelphia gentlemen 
ran the coaches "Aquidneck" and "Vivid" on alternate 
days between the two cities over the same old historic 
route.) 

Even earlier than this, in 1697, a monthly wagon went 
through between these two cities; while before that, in 
1673, Governor Lovelace (who first sanctioned racing in 
May of each year upon the course built at Hempstead by his 
predecessor. Governor Nicolls) established a monthly mail 
messenger between New York and Boston " for the more 
speedy intelligence and despatch of affairs." Between New 
York and Philadelphia the coaches were soon aided in their 
efforts by forming junctions with sailing packets from the 
former city to Perth Amboy, thence via coach to Burlington, 
and again changing to the Philadelphia boats. The com- 
peting coaches were known by various appellations, as the 
" Swift-and-Sure," "Pilot," "Commercial," etc., and carried 
about eight passengers, at a fare equivalent to ten dollars for 
the through trip. These various lines soon developed a 
spirited rivalry, and accidents from furious driving over the 
imperfectly kept and frequently corduroyed roads were 
numerous. The cumbrous sixteen-passenger vehicles gave 
place to the lighter one, of an egg-shape, and carrying nine 



DRIVING 

passengers inside and two out; to this the famihar, durable 
and time-honoured concord coach directly succeeded. Many 
of these were elaborately decorated as to doors and panels 
with landscapes, sporting scenes, gilt ornaments and linings 
of red, green or blue damask. Imagine the arrival of one of 
these picturesque vehicles at the tavern where it was to 
change horses, as it rattles down hill, the foaming animals 
at full gallop, the coach rolling and pitching upon its elastic 
leather thorough-braces; the landlord bustling out to eagerly 
glean the news for dissemination later in the day among 
the tradesmen and burghers who patronised his tap-room; 
the loitering idlers, awakened to momentary interest by its 
arrival ; the enthusiastic small boy of the period in full repre- 
sentation to see and perchance to address his heroes, the 
coachman and the guard; the pretty girls at the windows 
exchanging bows and waving handkerchiefs as the coach 
passes; the dusty passengers alighting for a moment's ease 
and a mug of the landlord's best flip ; a trunk or two and a 
few boxes unloaded; others put on; fresh horses put to; 
"All right, gentlemen"; a flourish of the big whip, 
and off they plunge again to the notes of " Yankee 
Doodle " ably performed by the guard upon his enormous 
key-bugle ! 

About 1818 the egg-shaped or curved-bottom body, hung 
on leather springs or thorough-braces, came into vogue, and 
has retained its favour for rough work even unto this day, 
the top, however, being now carried up on straight posts, 
and not curved as of yore. The first concord coach was 
built in Concord, New Hampshire, in 1827 — an incident 
noticeable in that it has had more to do with the ease, rapidity 
and safety of this country's settlement than almost any other 
factor. Everywhere throughout the world its merits are 




Kl lAli I I <M II 




PARK COACH OR DRAG 



EARLY STAGE-COACHING 

known and appreciated, and the originator more richly de- 
serves a monument than many who have received them. 

Travellers by these very early vehicles had a desperate 
time of it, and their endurance and survival prove that we 
indeed descended from a tough and sturdy race. The vehicles 
were springless, or virtually so; and the luggage rode upon 
racks which were set directly upon the axles. The roads were 
full of holes and ruts — bogs in places; the travel for long 
hours, the journey beginning at early morning and lasting 
until late night. The internal and external accommodations 
were the crudest and most uncomfortable, and the siiffer- 
ings of the passengers many and serious. 

The national roads, when constructed, to Wheeling and 
Cumberland, were kept in good order; fair speed was possible; 
inns were frequent and good; the stock of high quality; the 
drivers first-class; and the rivalry keen between the four 
lines of coaches which worked the roads. The encroachment 
of civilisation upon the West caused a strong tide of travel 
and a tremendous amount of mail and fast freight, so that 
it is recorded that sometimes from fourteen to sixteen coaches 
started at the same hour, all loaded with passengers (and 
that meant twenty-six), while three or four extra coaches 
carried the mails. Runs of 135 miles in twenty-four hours 
were common, and it was said that the teams were changed 
"before the coach stopped rocking." Thirty-two miles 
in two hours and twenty minutes, with three teams, and 
185 miles in fifteen hours thirty minutes, impress one, in view 
of the roads and loads and the probable quality of the cattle, 
as extraordinary performances — especially when it is under- 
stood that one driver drove the whole trip ; and these unsimg 
heroes must have been miracles of strength and endurance 
to stand the strain. In 181 2 the fare from Philadelphia to 



DRIVING 

Pittsburg over the national turnpike, 297 miles, was twenty 
dollars by coach — and it took six days to cover the distance. 

In 18 18, all the Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, 
Maine, Rhode Island and Connecticut stage lines were syndi- 
cated in the name of The Eastern Stage Company, and an 
enormous business was done. In 1829, seventy-seven stage 
lines were running out of Boston in all directions, and in 
1832 there were 106, yet in 1838 the advent of steam put 
this gigantic company out of existence. Of the coach run- 
ning between Boston and Portsmouth (New Hampshire) 
at that date it is recorded that its pace was great and, 
drawn by six horses, "it never was behind time" — this 
coach being of English mail pattern (1773). 

In 1786, there was through transportation by stage from 
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to Savannah, Georgia, and the 
vehicles ran regularly, going from Boston to New York in 
five days, and running three times a week. Levi Pease, the 
originator of this enterprise, was hailed in his day as the 
"Father of the Turnpike," receiving from the Government 
the first charter for such a road, which was laid out in 1808, 
from Boston to Worcester, although the first macadam was 
laid between Hagerstown, Maryland, and Booneborough, 
Maryland, transforming social and peripatetic relations — 
being followed by a network of vastly profitable ttimpikes 
which covered the eastern States and rendered many cities 
and towns bustling centres of trade and travel whose names 
are now forgotten and whose very sites are weed-grown 
and deserted. Tolls were remitted on these pikes in 1800. 

It is recorded of a celebrated old coach owned by Honour- 
able Ginery Twichell, the most celebrated driver and stage- 
owner of his time (1830-1846), that it carried at one trip a 
load of sixty-two persons. He was also the most enterprising 



EARLY STAGE-COACHING 

and largest mail-contractor of his day, and celebrated through- 
out the country. He kept as many as i6o horses on his 
various lines. 

While travellers on horseback, in chaises, coaches, etc., 
thronged the thoroughfares at all seasons of the year, 
the heavy merchandise was transported, via the huge wagons 
called " Conestoga," from the remote districts in Pennsylvania 
from which they came, and these ponderous progenitors of 
the more modem army- wagon and " prairie-schooner, " with 
their broad-tired wheels and sluggish motion, played their 
important part in breaking out, rolling down and com- 
pacting the thoroughfares throughout the whole country, 
especially along the eastern seaboard. Drawn by from 
four to ten horses harnessed tandem, these Itraibering arks 
trundled their enormous loads up and down the covmtry- 
side from Maine to Georgia, and west to Pittsburg and 
farther ; their shrewd, hardy drivers, a compound of peripa- 
tetic merchant, teamster and Yankee, ever ready to sell, swap 
or dicker in anything, from live stock to yam stockings; 
from groceries to real estate; trudging by the side of their 
teams, or riding the ambling Narragansett pacers, beloved 
by our forefathers as saddle-beasts, the ever-present road- 
side taverns affording fodder for beasts and shelter for man, 
their own baked beans and com bread ftimishing provender 
as needed. Active as were the industries of the summer 
solstice along these roads, the first snows found the highways 
fairly teeming (and teaming) with life. As more weight 
per horse could be transported by sled, and as two horses 
cotild handle on runners as much as four on wheels, the 
winter season was put to use in carrying merchandise to 
and fro, not only by the regular voyagers, but by farmers 
and their sons ; this traffic again helping to smooth bad spots. 



DRIVING 

to ease grades, to show the necessity of better roads, to 
increase communication between towns and country, and to 
circtdate news. Through these sources of information every 
landlord of a roadside inn was very properly regarded as 
the local oracle and news-vender, for his associations with 
travellers from all sections gave him a familiarity with the 
news, gossip and political opinions and tendencies of the 
day possible to no other man, rendering him a shrewd adviser 
to the man of affairs or politician, a capable counsellor to 
his fellow townsmen and dependents, and a perambulating 
repository of various facts concerning the fashions and doings 
of the day interesting to both sexes and to all ages. 

These huge wagons, and their generally accompanying 
carts in summer, and the sleds in winter, formed the only 
means of travel possible to the poorer classes if too feeble to 
endure the hardships of pedestrianism, and accordingly most 
of them carried passengers stowed away at odd points among 
the freight, condemned upon order to walk up the hills, to 
help in extracting horse or wagon from engulfing mud-hole, 
and to generally render a willing hand when called upon 
for assistance. 

These wagons weighed about 2,400 pounds, were hooded 
with canvas, and carried breaks and skids for hill work and 
to relieve the single shaft-horse, who could by no means hold 
back what eight could draw. They were good for from twenty 
to twenty-five miles daily in good weather, always at a walk. 

"The coach waits, gentlemen," and whisking the crumbs 
of the scanty meal which they have by candle-light tried 
hastily to engulf, and will later endeavour with varying 
success to assimilate, the half-awake travellers gather together 
their various boxes, bundles and carpet-bags, and troop 
forth into the porch, where the vehicle with its four horses 



EARLY STAGE-COACHING 

waits. It is three-thirty o'clock of a fine June morning, and 
the coming dayhght is just rendering darkness visible. Still 
rocking gently on its huge leather thorough-braces, the staunch 
old vehicle stands, racked with many a mile of rough road 
and heavy loads, but sound and trustworthy yet for many a 
year to come. Huge as to wheels, which chuckle and rattle 
musically on their washerless spindles, heavy of tire, and 
piecemeal of felly ; sturdy of axle ; homely of outline yet some- 
how homelike as well ; crowded of interior with its from three 
to four on back seat, the same number on front seat (facing 
backward), and again a like number on the middle bench, 
which folds up on each side as the doors open, and is filled 
last, its leather back hooked across; amply spaced under the 
seats for luggage of all kinds; a huge boot, resting not on 
the springs, but on the hind axle; seats on the roof, carrying 
four each and three on the rear or dicky-seat, the total capacity 
being (inside) nine (twelve at a pinch) ; box-seats, two besides 
driver; roof- seats, four; dicky-seat, three; or a total of 
sixteen " running light " and goodness knows how many 
when "full"; truly a goodly load for the four or six horses 
in use, and making the long twelve-mile stages a thorough 
test of gameness and stamina. 

The distance between the fore and hind wheels afforded 
by the long perch and leather thorough-braces made these 
coaches ride easily over the holes, ruts, breakwaters, etc., 
which thickly besprinkled the roads, a strip of looser soil of 
gravel on the off side of all hills making descent safer, and 
giving the skid a surer hold of the ground. 

The four hardy, active, long-tailed horses in front of our 
conveyances were the long, low, sturdy, thick-set animals 
of the day, concealing one and all a "bit of blood" some- 
where in their circulating organs; active, sure-footed and in 



DRIVING 

the bloom of condition — for this is a fast coach and has a 
reputation made and to maintain. All of a size and shape, 
any horse would fairly well mate and change places with 
any other, and run his trip one way of the road every day 
up or down. The pace was always a smart trot, with a gallop 
down the last part of the hills if another was impending, 
in order to allow the impetus to help surmount the elevation. 
Ragged in coat, perhaps, and unkempt of mane and tail, 
these animals would hardly fill the eye of the latter-day 
coach-horse proprietor, but so far as fitness for work went 
they were unsurpassed — lasted their six to eight years, and 
were as reliable in the deep snows of winter and the heavy 
mud of spring as in the halcyon days of summer and autumn. 
Their harness of dull, black leather was strong and serviceable, 
but absolutely plain, and built like the light team harnesses 
of to-day, with breeching, high hame-points over which the 
check-rein loosely hooked, no cruppers, lead-reins running 
through the hames-rings (and throat-latches of wheelers) ; 
horses coupled far apart and loosely poled up, that the 
widely thrashing pole might do no injury; everything of the 
strongest and plainest, hand-sewed and carefully made. 

The driver, his regulation whip (which is set down at five 
feet one and one-half inches from butt to the loop at the 
tip through which went the corresponding loop of the twelve- 
foot-five-inch lash, inclusive of snapper) in hand, stands 
beside the horses, adjusting the hames-strap of a wheeler. 
Blunt black by the sun, shaggy of hair and ample of whiskers, 
his shrewd face, keen, gray eye and muscular, wiry frame 
proclaim the man who has dared and conquered the vicissi- 
tudes of seasons, while his knowing air and deft touch 
proclaim the horseman bred if not bom. His dress is hardly 
what our English writers would approve, but is at least as 



EARLY STAGE-COACHING 

characteristic. His huge, high, rusty, beaver hat — the 
receptacle not only for letters, but for small parcels, handker- 
chief, spare snappers, etc., a trifle askew upon his head, 
comes well down to his ears; an old-fashioned choker and 
limp, linen collar " ties on" his head, which is as fully stored 
with various messages to deliver, errands to perform and 
business to transact "down the road" as is his hat with 
packages; a high-collared, short- waisted, wide-skirted, brown 
coat covers his broad shoulders, and the low-cut, flow- 
ered waistcoat allows ample space to the overflowing 
choker and home-made (and spun) linen shirt. Ample peg 
trousers meet his broad and heavy high-leg boots; while 
leather mittens or rough gloves (if any) cover his hands, 
although generally he elects to handle the ribbons bare- 
handed. This garb gives place in winter to a huge bearskin 
or buffalo coat, high-collared, and assisted by a knit " tippet" 
or comforter, heavy mittens, cowhide boots covered by fur- 
lined overshoes into which the thick trousers are snugly 
tucked, and, outside everything, thick, knitted overalls, which 
take the place of a robe. The enormous fur coat, reaching 
to the heels, is tied snugly at the waist with a bright scarf or 
bit of rope; and the space about this is, in lieu of pockets, 
filled with letters, etc., which the high-peaked, coonskin cap 
with its ear-pieces allowed no room to contain. 

His confrere, the guard, is equally rough-and-ready in his 
apparel, although leaning rather more to the niceties of 
equipment than his partner-in- work. A huge, drab great- 
coat, reaching to the feet and faced on both sides and around 
collar with scarlet, protects him from the blasts of winter, 
while the same cheery trimming is noticeable upon his lighter 
summer clothing. Double rows of large, black, horn buttons 
confine the gigantic coat, assisted by a belt in which are stuck 



DRIVING 

two large pistols. His head-piece is a leather cap with 
scarlet band, and both it and the deep pockets of the coat are 
bulging with letters and small parcels for " down-the-road " 
distribution. A genuine, hardy, rough-and-ready couple are 
" Coachee " and his partner, and woe betide the recalcitrant 
passenger who is " shy " on his fare, or the venturesome 
foot-pad who would try to "hold up" Uncle Sam's mails 
and their weather-beaten custodians. 

Horses of all kinds were kept and used, and runaways, 
kickers, etc., found their acceptable and useful place in the 
coach. The keep was good, the trip reasonably short — 
only one way of the road each day — and horses lasted well 
and long. 

The sturdy independence of these old-time jehus revolted 
at the custom of tipping, although a chew or a smoke was 
always welcome — as was a "dram" at every change, for 
they were by no means total abstainers, although far from 
being drunkards. That they were always squeamish over 
the wayfarers they picked up and set down along the road 
may well be doubted, and it is possible that the huge hats 
afforded sanctuary to many a casual fare which never, so 
far as the coach-proprietor knew, had been collected — and 
that this, on popular and populous lines, afforded a most 
profitable rake-off to the coachman there can be no doubt. 
It is related of one proprietor that, suffering greatly from 
this cause, and finding remonstrance unavailing, he took 
harbour in an unused coach and witnessed, from that view- 
point, one of his drivers, just arrived, arranging the pro- 
ceeds of his trips in two piles — " one for the old man and one 
for me," as his muttered soliloquy ran. The coins were 
divided equally until a point was reached where one large 
bill remained, and this was first allotted to " the old man " and 



EARLY STAGE-COACHING 

then "to me" — after much thought and shifting of location 
linding a resting-place on the pile allotted to " me," and going 
tnence to the personal pocket of the arithmetician. At this 
point the " old man " could contain himself no longer, but 
burst from his hiding-place upon his startled employee with 
these words: "Consam ye, Bill Hotchkiss, git yer time! 
S' long's ye divided fair 'taint so bad; but by hookey! 'f ye 
don't do that now, ye'U want the whole blamed stage line 
pretty soon. Git yer time, and quit ! " And Bill's career 
as a stage-coachman, so far as that coach-proprietor was 
concerned, ended right there. 

The American coachman generally drove two-handed, 
and, indeed, with his loose-coupled and loosely poled-up 
horses no other means would have been, as a regular style, 
possible. At intervals he shifted all the reins into either 
hand, but only in straight going. His horses also took, when 
fresh, rather a stiff hold of their plain snafHe-bits. The nigh- 
wheel rein came under the little finger of the left hand, and 
the nigh-lead rein between that and the next finger, both 
reins going thence up through the full hand and over the 
thumb, which shut down to hold them. The off reins came 
to the right hand, the wheel rein over third finger, the lead 
rein over first finger, thence passing down through the hand. 
As will be seen, all the reins could be readily shifted into 
either hand, and the " slack " of both sides crossed in the 
palm of the hand, so that all were secure. No graceful curves 
were possible, but the driver pulled the appropriate reins 
without regard to "pointing" the leaders or "opposing" the 
wheelers. His lash also was never caught in a double thong 
(nor probably was the old English coachman's), but came to 
the hand and htmg in a large loop ready for instant use, 
most of the driving and urging being done bv word of 



DRIVING 

mouth — and not infrequently by throwing stones from a 
supply carried in the pocket. 

We all of us remember the curious old leather trunks or 
boxes, the initials worked with brass-headed nails, which, 
with the mahogany and cedar chests similarly adorned, 
used to be found in the garrets in childhood's days; as also 
the carpet-bags and clumsy leather sacks which, with band- 
boxes, formed the principal impedimenta of the travellers of 
those times. Of small storage capacity individually, piled 
and corded on the roof and stowed in the boot of the old 
coaches, they made cumbersome loads, heavy and unwieldy. 



CHAPTER III 

AMERICAN VEHICLES AND EVOLUTION 

As in the case of so many others of the manufactures allow- 
ing scope to individual enterprise and intelligence, America 
has, in the space of a brief half -century, sprung to the front 
as a builder of every variety of carriage, and her vehicular 
output is to-day standard in Australia and South Africa, 
and rapidly becoming so in other coiin tries. Everywhere 
our native types, or otur modifications and adaptations of 
foreign types, find instant favour, through their uniform 
possession of the essentials of strength, comfort and dura- 
bility, combined, as by no other makers, with extreme light- 
ness and grace of outline. Even in conservative England 
the American road- wagon, runabout, rockaway, etc., 
make warmer friends daily, and the old English highways 
are yet destined to resound to the patter of the fast trotter's 
feet and to the " whir " of the speed-wagon's wheels — not 
as incidents, but as a regular feature of traffic. 

Not only is the excellence of our carriages making friends, 
but in one detail we to-day literally supply the world. The 
American woods and shops furnish materials and mechanics 
which combine to produce a wheel incomparably better than 
those of any other land, and to-day the vehicles of every 
country are rolling upon wheels of American make: made 
here on foreign designs and shipped across the sea in bulk. 

In the beginning, our home vehicles had for their models 
the carriages of England and France, but the imperfect 
development of our roads for a long time prevented the use 



DRIVING 

of any but the lightest, strongest and most simply repaired 
carriage. Of these, the French chaise found greatest favour, 
as being two- wheeled, and our mechanics quickly improved 
upon it by shifting the seat farther back toward the axle 
(finally suspending and balancing it over this support), and 
by imposing a leather- or canvas-covered top, that the heat 
of the sun and the inclemency of the seasons might be 
avoided. Gradually this ponderous vehicle was lightened 
until, as the demand for more rapid locomotion, despite all 
drawbacks, increased, the "Whisky" was evolved — carrying 
generally only one passenger — hung on leather thorough- 
braces, suspended from two cross-bars (one before and one 
behind the body), and allowing, with its elastic hickory shafts, 
a reasonable escape from that excessive knee-motion which 
made the old two- wheelers so extremely uncomfortable. 
This vehicle, used by commercial men and those whose busi- 
ness obliged haste, was modified for more sedate joumeyings 
into the comfortable and roomy chaise; made and suspended 
in the same way, its large hood adjustable at full spread or 
half back or flat down, a leather curtain rolled up against 
the front of the top being loosed and fastening with straps to 
the dasher in time of storm. The other curtains, both side 
and back, could be rolled up in fine weather, and the com- 
plete vehicle of the '50s and '60s, drawn by its sturdy, active, 
fast-trotting Morgan-Messenger — flea-bitten or black chest- 
nut, docked-and-pricked-tailed, up-headed and handsome — 
afforded a conveyance which for comfortable journeying in 
all weathers has never yet been surpassed. 

No sooner had roads become generally preserved in fair 
condition than our ingenious natives perceived the desira- 
bility and necessity of evolving a four-wheeled vehicle which 
should combine the comfort of the chaise with the ease to the 



AMERICAN VEHICLES 

horse, uphill and down, of the four-wheeled carriage; and 
presently the first " buggy " (though why so called deponent 
knoweth not) appeared. This was made with a perch, the 
whole resembling in general detail the chariot as to the under- 
carriage, with a chaise body superimposed; and it was manu- 
factured both open and carrying a top. With the advance 
in metal-working the possibilities of this material in replacing 
the leather thorough-braces were brought to the attention of 
builders, and very shortly, even as nails and bolts replaced 
in the make-up of the bodies the dowels and wooden pins 
with which the ancient chaises and chariots were held together, 
steel springs of most primitive combination found their 
place and quickly played their important part in lightening 
the weight of all carriages. In form approximating that 
which we recognise as such to-day, the buggy first made its 
appearance about 1835, and by 1850 it was coming into quite 
general usage, the square-bodied vehicle being succeeded in 
popular favour by the more flowing lines of the " Jenny Lind." 
Experiments later proved that the side-spring of elliptic 
form was not only cheaper to manufacture, but fully as easy 
to sit over as the full-end spring, and about 1865 this con- 
struction began to be noticed; to be followed at an interval 
of ten years by the regulation side-bar construction which we 
know to-day, and which has again been modified by the run- 
about spring arrangement and model, and various other 
patterns, all satisfactory, strong and easy-riding. 

As the under-carriage of the chariot and the body 
of the chaise were successfully combined in the construc- 
tion of the buggy; and as the constant betterment of 
mechanical construction and of roads rendered possible 
the propulsion by one or two horses of greater loads, 
manufacturers realised the possibilities of supplying a 



DRIVING 

two-seated vehicle along the same lines, and, as the demand 
for such a one became active, the carryall and rock- 
away were the results; leather-curtained, having a door 
on each side (although at first access to the hind seat was 
obtained by mounting the shafts and clambering over the 
front seat), the doors being at first solid, and later supplied 
with sliding windows; these, of small oval shape, being also 
finally included in the back and side curtains as well, and not 
interfering with the rolling up of these protections, as was 
generally done in fine weather. These comfortable vehicles 
are, like the dear old chaises, sacred in the memory of 
boyhood's days, and always reminiscent of happy journeys 
and jolly outings. 

Wheels were originally confined by linchpins, and these, 
while easily allowing replacement, were constantly causing 
accidents through jolting out of the socket or through being 
removed by the mischievous boys and village jokers, who were 
as full of pranks in those times as they are to-day. To this 
succeeded the single nut working upon a thread at the end 
of the axle; and finally some ingenious Yankee, exasperated 
at the wear involved by grit and ensuing excessive "play" 
upon the loosely fitting boxes and axle-arms, evolved the 
idea of "taking up" the superfluous "play" by whittling a 
leather stop-gap out of an old boot-leg, and the "washer" 
which we have to-day still stands, unchanged in form, as a 
tribute to his common sense. To the single nut succeeded 
the three small nuts and bed-plate system of the "mail" 
axle, but without its ability to store for any length of time 
lubricating material. One of the vivid recollections of boy- 
hood's days for the writer is the remembrance of that daily 
job of greasing carryall, buggy, beach-wagon and pony 
phaeton, all thus equipped; and this tedious, dirty, skin- 



AMERICAN VEHICLES 

abrading and finger-bruising duty caused his first lapses into 
that picturesque profanity which is at times so satisfying. 
From these hiimble and crude beginnings the energy and 
finesse of manufacturers and skill of workmen, aided by 
wonderfid inventions in labour-saving machinery by which 
vehicles are now turned out at wholesale and in enormous 
quantities, have progressed until the point of perfection 
required everywhere to-day has been reached; nor have we 
been wilfully blind to the merits of vehicles constructed in 
other coiintries, but have always incorporated, modified or 
elevated their desirable characteristics in our home construc- 
tions; preserving with utmost skill, meanwhile, all their deli- 
cacy and smoothness of outline and harmony of proportion. 
It is to be regretted that Americans, as a rule, do not more 
generally patronise the distinctively national type, but 
prefer rather to adopt those sanctioned by the fashion- 
able indorsement of foreign countries. This may, how- 
ever, be but another and a natural step in that 
elaboration of living and ultimate unity of ideas which is 
destined to render the entire civilised world identical in 
habits and tastes. 

Some idea of the enormous increase in the foreign demand 
for our carriages, etc., may be gained from the following 
figures: In 1851, our exports amounted to $1,421; in 1890, 
$2,056,980. In 1901, Great Britain purchased $541,455 
worth; and nearly 2,000 carriages were shipped to Germany, 
to be painted and sold there. Canada, Mexico, Africa, South 
America, Australia ($346,442 in 1901) all purchased of us 
enormously, and large as is the trade, it is (thanks to native 
skill, to the superiority of our raw material and to the per- 
fection of our machinery) but just beginning to expand. 
The last census gives America 4,571 vehicle-constructing 



DRIVING 

concerns, employing 126,000 men and paying wages yearly 
to the amount of $70,000,000. 

The accompanying plates are illustrative of some of the 
phases of change and development. Our builders have 
evolved many varieties of "freak carriages," collapsible, 
invertible, convertible, telescopic, expansive ; veritable kaleido- 
scopes in their extraordinary changes; but their success 
has been deservedly ephemeral. Carriages are too cheap, 
good taste too universal and prosperity too general to-day to 
render necessary such contraptions, and they are as uncalled 
for on the ground of economy or convenience as they are 
outrageous upon the score of good taste. 

To describe at length the improvements and changes, 
both exterior and interior, which have resulted in the evolu- 
tion of the wonderfully perfect, compact, light, strong and 
comfortable American vehicles would weary the reader and 
afford material in itself for a large book. While original in 
many of our styles, we have been quick to seize upon and 
adopt the best features of all foreign construction and to 
vastly improve upon them. No innovation, however, has 
half as much to do with comfort and durability as has the 
invention of the rubber tire, both pneumatic and hard. 

Briefly enumerating the principal types in popular use, 
we must, as most pretentious, begin with the private coach, 
or drag — a superb vehicle as tiimed out to-day. In its 
quiet colours, graceful lines and extreme strength it has no 
counterpart in the list of pleasure carriages, and its lines are 
so standard that for years the only change in its character 
has been that of increasing lightness — one of only 1,800 
pounds being in use to-day. That this is an advantage is 
unlikely, and the odd 400 to 600 pounds thus saved are not 
necessary to its competence for the purpose. The road-coach,. 



AMERICAN VEHICLES 

equally standard in make and shape, and equally perfect in 
all essentials, is increasing in favour as the enthusiasm for 
this delightful sport augments, and becoming more usual 
ever)^ day. 

In the brake we have a vehicle which, whether of roof -seat 
or body shape, is a most useful adjunct to the establishment 
where four horses are kept; and an arrangement for driving 
three horses abreast makes it, for the country-house, a most 
spacious and useful carriage for station or other rough work. 
The perch is sometimes retained, but there seems no good 
reason for its presence vmless the effect be personally pleasing 
to the owner. The char-a-banc once found favour for similar 
work, but is now rarely encountered. 

Among family equipages we include many beautiful 
shapes. The imposing calash is occasionally seen at our 
watering-places and in our parks, and turned out with pro- 
portionately large horses and servants it is a very stately 
carriage. Its confreres, the daumont, the demi-daumont, 
the britzka, the clarence, etc., have been passed by, as has 
the barouche, which faded from view at about the time the 
C-spring and the elliptic spring began to lose caste: an odd 
victoria or two thus arranged, and a few odd broughams 
remaining as relics to the yotmger generation of arrangements 
which were rendered compulsory to our grandmothers by 
the illy paved streets and badly kept roads of years gone by. 
The landau combines the virtues of all these vehicles, a 
grace peculiarly its own, and is unique in that as a closed or 
open carriage it is equally satisfactory, while its accommoda- 
tion is of the amplest. This type seems standard, likely to 
perpetually endure in fashionable favour and finds its value 
as none of the others did when it passes downward to the 
job-master and the hack stand. 



DRIVING 

The private omnibus, for both town and coimtry use, is 
nowadays becoming indispensable, and at a pinch makes a 
useful contrivance for driving four. Some are made with a 
removable roof and an extra seat which sets on behind the 
driver's box, making a useful body-brake; others have 
permanent seats upon the roof. The wagonette, covered or 
open, is the 'btis' cousin germane and almost equally useful, 
while being much lighter. 

The brougham is the equipage par excellence of fashion 
and convenience, luxurious in every detail, and superseding 
entirely now the coupe, which found favoxor for a time. It 
is as much a man's equipage as a woman's, as the "bachelor 
brougham " proves, and may for family use in the swell-front 
type, afford nearly the accommodation of the landau. The 
type of the brougham has recently undergone various extreme 
and rather startling modifications, but the latter-day tendency 
is all toward the resumption of the styles found so satisfactory 
in earlier days. 

The victoria, or so-called cabriolet, is the popular carriage 
for feminine usage in town, park or country, and the panel- 
boot style accommodates fairly well a third or even fourth 
passenger, if not built upon a too generous personal scale. 
The gracefully flaring lines of the " seashell " pattern have 
been tampered with by ambitious builders and some hideous 
distortions evolved — which, however, endured but for a day. 
The miniature victoria is just now enjoying a vogue which 
is hardly likely to endure, since it is only suited to the slight 
and slender, and must be similarly horsed and " servanted " 
to appear in keeping with thorough good taste; nor, as 
carrying no footman or groom, does it seem a lady's equipage 
at all, however neat and smart it may temporarily be deemed. 
For country use the vis-a-vis has many advantages, with its 



AMERICAN VEHICLES 

two seats for passengers, unobstructed view, comfort and 
good appearance, and finds itself received with increasing 
and deserved favour. 

The hansom is deservedly popular with both sexes for 
town work, and were it made lighter (as could easily be done) 
and the top arranged to drop or telescope it would be equally 
usefxil in the country. As an all-round, practical vehicle it 
has much to commend it, and with the improvements named 
would be welcomed everyTvhere throughout the world. 

The rockaway (four or six seat), the station-wagon, the 
carryall, the surrey or beach-wagon and others of their ilk 
are all thoroughly characteristic American vehicles, and from 
their light weight, strength and practical convenience are 
finding ready sales in all foreign countries. In their wake 
follows an almost endless variety of " things " of every con- 
ceivable shape, opening here, closing there and telescoping 
yonder ad infinitum et ad natiseum. These nightmares are 
mostly "bom to blush unseen," however, and endure but 
for a spring season in the appreciation of the inexpert and 
the careless. 

No better vehicle for the purpose of carrying comfortably 
two people has ever been evolved than the American buggy — 
whether of end-spring, piano-box, goddard or side-spring 
construction ; nor is there any better for the toughest work than 
the concord and the democrat wagon, of varying weights. 
The side-bar buggy was well received, but " rode hard, " as the 
springs had little play. The modem runabout fails in the 
same particular, and the name (which was patented with 
the shape of spring) is being wrongly applied to various 
wagons with other arrangements of the tmder-carriage and 
the springs. Low wheels and rubber tires, save that they 
perhaps throw more mud in rainy weather than the high, are 



DRIVING 

deservedly popular and likely to endure in favour. As 
American vehicles, the use of English harness, lashed whip and 
other foreign accessories have, before such wagons, seemed 
singularly ill-chosen and inappropriate. The one-man-top- 
road- wagon, a marvel of strength and ease (if equipped with 
end springs), has no counterpart on earth, and is only exceeded 
in its extraordinary efficiency by the so-called "matinee" or 
speed wagon, which will carry in absolute safety from 250 
to 300 pounds, yet is made to weigh as little as forty-three 
pounds complete. 

In phaetons, the cumbrous and lumbering mail-phaeton 
is as extinct as the dodo, as is the T-cart, formerly the pride 
of the jeunessc doree; and the demi-mail, the stanhope and the 
spider-phaeton, light, graceful and smart, have amply filled 
their places. It is odd that we do not welcome in this country 
the practical fashion of driving one horse instead of a pair 
before these vehicles. We adopt it in the brougham and the 
victoria, but ignore it in the case of these popular carriages, 
although the ladies, before their beautiful Peters or George 
IV. phaetons, or the most attractive straw-body morning 
phaetons, are proving to us how sensible the custom is and 
how short-sighted we are in concluding that we must always 
go to the trouble and expense of keeping a pair if we 
contemplate "setting-up" a phaeton of any sort. 

Whether the two- and four-wheeled dog-carts were 
handicapped by the name or not does not appear, but certainly 
they have "had their day." The slat-sided phaeton and the 
four-wheeled dog-cart still endure, but the obliteration of the 
craze for driving tandem, despite the various clubs formed to 
promote it, have witnessed the passing of the tandem cart of 
every shape and name, and to-day such an outfit is rarely 
encountered save in the show-ring, where they serve a useless 



AMERICAN VEHICLES 

purpose in providing one or two more methods of exhibiting 
the various entries. The gig and tilbury are, except in the 
same place, nearly as obsolete, and there is no appreciable rea- 
son for their perpetuation, so much more useful and comfort- 
able in every way are our four-wheeled carriages. The French 
chaise has its uses as a lady's equipage, being neat, easily 
entered and manageable by the inexpert. The " Kentucky- 
brake " cart is useful for driving green or rough horses, or for 
exercising purposes, but most uncomfortable for the occupants. 
The governess cart, sacred to the babies and the nurses, has 
now a most useful prototype on large lines, which is 
astonishingly useful and extremely smart in appearance. 

All vehicles are by our English cousins arranged in two 
classes — the "sporting" and the "non-sporting" divisions; 
and perhaps this is as handy a method of differentiation as 
any — unless we further subdivide them into the classes: 
"park or town," "country" and "utility." 

In no country is the public blessed with every conceivable 
variety of carriage, in every grade of excellence in workman- 
ship and at every variety of price as it is in America. Rich 
or poor, we can all be suited in some fashion and at some 
price; and so thoroughly is this recognised that, both new 
and as second-hand, our vehicle output is finding boundless 
favour in every country on the globe. 



CHAPTER IV 

STAGE-DRIVING IN THE WEST 

The charm, the difficulties and the dangers of Western 
stage-coaching, and the wonderful feats of the drivers 
employed therein have provided to the novelist and the short- 
story writer a fertile field for descriptive generalisation ; but 
never have we as yet found an enthusiast who has portrayed 
the scientific difficulties of the task and the remarkable 
accomplishments of the hard-driving jehus of that romantic 
country. Nothing paralleling their feats is possible in the 
East, and the best of our drivers, professional or amateur, 
would find themselves put to it to emulate the feats of their 
Western brethren. Over all varieties of roads, up mountains 
and down gulches, by glaring daylight and through the murky 
blackness of the darkest night, the stages of the Occident kept 
their time, year in and year out ; while not only were the cattle 
in use of the most miscellaneously unbroken sort, but they were 
generally the very scum of the equine world, so far as temper 
went; one and all having to be handled only by the plain 
snaffle-bit. The mere physical strain of handling four or six 
horses over one stage, aside from the anxiety of keeping 
time and retaining the vehicle on the road and right side up, 
was terrific, and when one thinks how these drivers faced 
this task day after day for years, dodging Indians and road- 
agents meanwhile, one can but marvel at their stamina and 
hardihood. 

To-day the omnipresent railroad has usurped most of the 
routes of these old stages, but, as the accompanying pictures 

33 



DRIVING 

display and the article from Mr. Francis T. Underbill, the well- 
known amateur coachman and author will show, there is still 
much activity in certain sections of California and elsewhere. 
Mr. Underhill's experience has been most unique in that 
besides having driven public coaches, etc., for years in the 
East, he has had opportunity for practice and observation over 
the most difficult roads in the West. 

Probably coaching, as practised in England before the 
railway days, has no more enthusiastic supporter, no one who 
delights in seeing everything connected with the sport carried 
on in a workmanlike manner throughout, than I; and yet I 
find a deal of pleasure in touching upon a branch of driving 
which, though in a way analogous to coaching, is on such 
widely different lines that its mere mention generally brings 
a sarcastic smile to the lips of a stereotyped old coachman. 

In order, therefore, not to incur the enmity of those whom 
I wovild like to consider my confreres of the box, I will refer 
to my Western jehus as " drivers." Let me tell you it is no 
small thing to be called a stage-driver in the unsettled part 
of our mighty West. I don't mean the man who drives a 
ramshackle vehicle three or four miles from some railway 
station, but the men who drove such runs as Deadwood, 
Leadville, and many another long, dangerous road. They 
were often heroes in their way and always important person- 
ages in their communities; for they were in touch with the 
outside world, heard many topics discussed, and incidentally 
assumed a certain pompousness and superiority of manner 
which lent a picturesque charm to their characters. I have 
often thought that the old English road- or stage-coachmen 
and the Western stage-drivers bear a very much closer relation 
and resemblance to each other in characteristics than most 




A WESTERN STAGE ROAD 



STAGE-DRIVING IN THE WEST 

people realise. Those who delight in the coaching reminis- 
cences of such men as Birch Reynardson or Captain Malet 
would be surprised to find many of the stories told by uncouth 
reinsmen of the West savoured of much the same sauce— the 
Western stories being often more thrilling and realistic. 
The stage-driver in the first place prides himself on an imruffled 
exterior under all conditions. He assumes that he carries 
no passenger quite worthy of his society and his manner in 
consequence is condescending, and, if the word can be properly 
applied to the type, somewhat supercilious, while his language 
at times is, to say the least, unparliamentary. 

The type, however, is so distinct, so individual that even 
the casual observer is anxious to know its origin, its raison 
d'etre so to speak. The answer is simple. Aside from horse- 
manship, the stage-driver of the prominent routes from 
twenty to forty years ago was necessarily a trusted employee ; 
he was often in sole charge of large shipments of gold from 
the mining-camps as well as of valuable express consignments. 
This responsibility absolutely demanded a man of unflinching 
nerve and of ready resource, for the dangers of the road were 
extreme in those days of Indian outbreaks and highway 
robberies. He, of course, had to be a master of his trade; 
but, curiously enough, little of the self-importance assimied 
by practically all the most noted reinsmen of the Far West 
came from conceit as to their ability to drive. It came 
rather from the fact that they knew they were trusted by 
their employers and looked up to by their fellow citizens. 
They knew they earned both the faith and the respect, and 
they naturally took pride in treating the matter with a sort 
of nonchalance which by degrees became habitual. 

It has been my good fortune to know a number of these 
men, and I can honestly say, to respect some of them. While 



DRIVING 

they might not have graced a drawing-room, they uncon- 
sciously exhibited quahties of true manhness and sometimes 
of chivalrousness which would have put many a carpet-knight 
to shame. Owen Wister in " The Virginian " draws quite a 
clever pen-picture of an average stage-driver of the then time, 
but there were a few who shone out as stars of the first 
magnitude. In California the names of Hank Monk, Guy 
Faust, " Shotgun " Taylor, Bee Willis and a score of others 
are familiar to every one as truly dashing examples of the 
craft, and, by George ! they could drive ! It is amusing to 
hear our coachmen, in speaking of Western driving, say, " Oh, 
yes; it is very easy to drive those six-horse stages over 
mountain passes, for their horses are all well trained." I 
would much like to have one of these scoffers sit beside such 
a man as I have mentioned, behind an almost unbroken 
team (for, by the way, most of the "bad ones" are relegated 
to the stage- routes) , driving over a road which in itself would 
open the eyes of many an old-time coachman, and I feel no 
hesitancy in saying that he would be willing to apologise 
like a man for belittling a performance of which he had had 
no conception. To turn for a few moments to the style of 
driving: It is true that "their ways are not as our ways" 
(I take great pleasure in voicing this quotation from either 
side of the fence, but in the present instance apply it from 
the standpoint of the English school) ; but there are one or 
two false impressions which seem to have obtained^one 
is that the stage-driver always holds his reins in both hands 
and cannot shorten his hold or take a " point " without raising 
his hands up to his head, on the principle of the " cow-milker, " 
so aptly described by the Duke of Beaufort in " Badminton 
Driving." As a matter of fact, the method of holding the 
reins — i. e., with four, the near-side reins coming under and 

36 



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STAGE-DRIVING IN THE WEST 

over the little finger of the left hand and palmed upward, 
the off-side reins to be readily taken at any moment under 
and over the forefinger and palmed downward, the lead- 
reins being above the wheel. I do not for a moment claim 
this to be graceful, but I am positive that I could convince 
almost any skeptic that it is thoroughly practical in its place. 
The ' ' points ' ' and oppositions are much stronger and more 
accurate than in the English school and every rein in the 
hands of an expert is at all times doing its work. It may 
seem an exaggeration, but I have seen many a dangerous 
reverse curve on the edge of a precipice, which required at 
least a three-foot "point" each way and proportionate 
opposition. There are very, very few who drive in the 
English school to-day who are good enough to come down 
such a road at a good pace. 

Of course, the vehicle, the harnessing, the roads, are all 
so different from what one finds in older sections of the coun- 
try that any comparison is out of place. I can only say 
that in my judgment the vehicles and the method of har- 
nessing are thoroughly practical and suited to the country. 

Many and many are the tales told by and of some of these 
doughty knights of the whip. Hank Monk, who was credited 
with Horace Greeley's famous drive, was a reckless whip 
and very independent. On one occasion the proprietor, who 
was driving alone with him, ventured to say that he had had 
many complaints of his (Monk's) reckless driving, and cited 
one or two instances (they were at the time about a mile 
from the change). After a moment's hesitation. Hank, with 
his usual drawl, remarked, " Ye call them reckless, du ye — 
wal, here's what I call reckless drivin'," and with that he 
threw his six reins on his horses' backs and cut the team loose, 
as they say. Fortvmately, the nags knew his voice and their 



DRIVING 

stable and, aided by a good brake, he was able to avoid 
an accident. 

Jim Myers, one of the old-timers, made a drive that was 
quite celebrated at the time. It was in the early '70s 
and on one of the roads from the gold-mines. His run was 
sixty miles with six changes of six horses, and over a bad 
mountain grade. The stage reached his station three hours 
late, driven by a hostler — the driver having been shot while 
escaping a hold-up. Jim wired the conditions to the rail- 
way station sixty miles away. The proprietor wired, "Make 
the train with the treasure or kill the stock." He had less 
than five hours to do it in, but he made his train. I asked 
him about it one day, and he said " Say ! there was one thing 
in that ere drive that wasn't much fun. Long 'bout the 
middle stage we had a five-mile run. Me and Bill drove the 
same team, ' Swing back, ' and alius used to make up time on 
'em 'cause they was a danged good team. Well, when I come 
along that day I turned them nags loose and couldn't stop 
'em when I come to the change, so I just slung the silk into 
'em and did the next twelve miles in dandy shape, though 
they was running plumb away for more'n three miles." 

There is another style of driving in California and the Far 
West which has always interested me greatly, namely, driving 
with a jerk-line. This method is used for almost all heavy 
teaming where more than six horses compose the team. The 
driver rides the near wheeler and guides the whole team, ex- 
cept the wheelers, with one rein which is fastened to the bit 
of the near leader. This leader is taught to turn off side 
when the rein is jerked and near side under a steady pull. 
The horse "under the rein," as they term it, must be a sensible 
animal and his mate a good, free horse. The guiding of the 
wagon or wagons, is accomplished by the wheelers on ordinary 

38 



STAGE-DRIVING IN THE WEST 

roads, and on bad roads they are aided by the pointers — i. e., 
the pair in front of the pole are taught to step over the 
draft-chain and keep the pole out on sharp, binding turns. 
My head teamster, Richard Holland, two years ago took 
a twelve-ton boiler up a long, circuitous and narrow grade 
with twenty-four horses, which he handled with the one 
rein. The work is in a class by itself, but in my opinion 
shows quite unusual horsemanship and is most unique. 



39 



CHAPTER V 

ROAD-COACHING 

Although the witchery of this fascinating sport is well 
recognised by all that growing class of Americans who take 
interest in outdoor amusements and exercise, the prevail- 
ing idea that it is of necessity extremely expensive deters not 
a few from undertaking it; and until recently the general 
conditions of the roads adjacent to localities suitable for the 
enterprise have not been such as is essential to its enjoy- 
ment imder the best auspices, for it must be confessed that 
jolting ruts and a cloud of dust form a most dolorous accom- 
paniment to a journey, especially if the voyager must 
occupy a seat on the "backgammon," or beside the guard, 
where these objectionable features are always most noticeable. 

The idea that the pastime must of necessity prove 
expensive is due to the fact that through foolish purchases 
of horses, careless management, indifferent patronage, etc., 
such has generally been the outcome, a result having 
■nothing whatever to do with the results of road-coaching 
in the abstract, but much in the individual case. 

That a road-coach is likely to make huge profits or to earn 
any considerable dividends no one for a moment claims; 
nor should this eternal mercenary aspect ever be considered 
— although, alas ! it is generally the standard by which all 
sports are gauged, and by which they stand or fall. A coach 
should be managed like any other undertaking, and the 
mere economies of outfit, etc., are but an item. The genuine 
essentials so far as the public goes are that a good, smart 



DRIVING 

pace shall be continued all the way; that the coach, etc., 
shall be thoroughly "well done" in every slightest detail; 
that the destination shall prove attractive to the outer, and 
the service and liincheon satisfactory to the inner, man. A 
deficiency in any one of these respects certainly will cause 
unpopularity. Much depends upon the owner's ability as a 
business manager, and as a caterer to the pleasures and tastes 
of others, how large his deficit may be. He must, to be suc- 
cessful, submit to a good deal of unpleasant newspaper 
notoriety; he must boom his coach as he would his wine if 
he were a wine agent; he must bargain for an equivalent 
percentage for the trade he brings to both ends of the route; 
he must be hail fellow with all and sundry, however per- 
sonally distasteful, for the mere climbing to the box, driving 
out and home, and stalking away as soon as he pulls up 
will never popularise his undertaking; nor will the fact 
that he runs to the most attractive private club in the country 
make up for the fact that he does so patronise a private and 
not a public building, where necessarily his passengers 
cannot be afforded the full run of the premises. Nothing 
is more unpleasant for the average voyager than the realisa- 
tion or sensation that he is a guest only on toleration and 
not by right, and that his privileges extend to narrow limits 
only. This is a feature of the public coach which most 
proprietors fail to understand; and they do not appreciate — 
as they, probably being members, laugh and talk with their 
friends at lunch in this club — how extremely uncomfortable 
are the outsiders who have been so unfortunate as to take 
passage upon a vehicle which they find too late is " public " 
in name only, and genmnely such in no particular; nor can 
any inducements coax them to repeat the experience. If 
a public resort, as a hotel, etc., is the destination, the coach- 



ROAD - COACHING 

man should see that the soHds and fluids served at lunch are 
of the very best and plentiful in quantity; for the well-fed 
are easily pleased, while a " cold bottle " removes not only 
the taste of the roadside dust, but its memory also. Do not 
then, for pity's sake, incense your patrons by jig-jogging 
them over the roads at seven miles an hour, a little slower 
than your own dust clouds, providing them with a lunch 
where what should be hot is cold, the cold warm, and all 
unappetising and ill-served; or keep them dawdling about 
the semi-private club for two hours, until you have a nap or a 
turn over the golf-links, thence jogging them home again, 
and then resent their abjuring a road-coach forever more. 

Rates on a coach are generally absurdly high, and such 
an outing for two people — as a man and his wife — effectually 
spoils a twenty-dollar bill. "What of it?" say you; "those 
are not the sort of people we cater to." Yet they are if you 
run a bona fide public coach, as the public will prove and gen- 
erally do prove, by leaving you and your road severely alone. 

Everything from the box-seat to the usually indifferent 
lunch costs patrons at least twice too much, and public 
coaching can never flourish and never be such in reality so 
long as this is the case. 

But to proceed to details. Once your route is chosen it 
is time to get together your horses, coach, etc. New coaches 
will cost about $2,500; very excellent second-hand vehicles 
may be had for from $700 to $1,200 and are in many ways 
preferable — as already proved strong and able and as being 
cheaper. If one of these is bought, have it overhauled to 
the last nut and bolt; fresh painted and lettered, and smart- 
ened in every way as to upholstery, etc. Harness should 
be bought new, imless one can find a chance to purchase a 
lot of good second-hand material that is all alike ; for nothing 



DRIVING 

looks worse nor more pettily economical than to see the style 
of harness varying on the different teams. New harness 
will cost about $150 for good, strong, plain sets, and less if 
six or eight sets are taken; this including bits, etc. Collars 
should be made for each individual horse, always straight, 
thick padded and fitting very snug, as shoulders and necks 
will surely shrink; a horse's collar, bridle and bit should 
be his individually: numbered with his number and accom- 
panying him in all his changes of teams, etc. Blankets, 
sponges, bandages, tools, etc., should all be wholesaled, and 
stabling with or without feed be contracted for with care. 
The eternal question of satisfactory servants, of course, 
will give trouble always, as it is very difficult, in the first 
place, to find good men out of work, and, in the second, to 
keep them steady in a job which they know offers no future, 
and will last at best only a few weeks. What wonder if they 
make all they can out of it — wouldn't you, honestly now, 
do the same yourself? Never trust any of them, nor your 
head man either, if you are foolish enough to go to the expense 
of having one, which gives you one more to watch. Your 
only safeguard is to " keep them guessing " by dropping in 
on them at all sorts of odd times, day and night, nor, if you 
are unwilling to take this trouble, can you expect, nor should 
you attempt, to run a public coach without the certainty of 
facing a heavy deficit, and a thin and worn-out stud. 

For purchasing your horses you may adopt three different 
systems: You may go direct to the country and breeding 
districts; you may wholesale them from one of the big firms 
which do business East and West ; or you may pick them up 
one at a time as encountered at the sales stables and auction 
marts, and along the highwa3^s and byways of your city; or 
you may combine the three methods. Of them all, the last 



ROAD-COACHING 

will afford the greatest satisfaction. If you go buying in 
the covintry, notice of your coming precedes you, and values 
are put up to correspond with your gullibility, or supposed 
means, nor are such purchases likely to be satisfactory in 
condition, mouths or manners — and a long preliminary 
period of seasoning to get them ready for work adds heavily to 
expenses, and more than offsets the imaginary advantages of 
buying them first hand and at country rates. The same 
may be said of the second, or wholesale, fashion, although 
here bodily condition will generally be good. By the last, 
however, you have every advantage in getting seasoned, 
city-wise and way-wise animals, or at least those partially 
" made," and all ready for work. The possible from $25 to $50 
more per head which you pay is a bagatelle if you consider 
your own travelling expenses, freight or express charges 
and keep, veterinary bills, etc., which the purchase of green 
country horses will make imperative. 

Whether you select horses all about of a size and shape so 
that any two make a fair pair, or whether you invest in the 
thick, sturdy wheelers or the rangy, lighter-built leaders which 
fashion dictates, is for you to choose. Certainly, however, the 
first system has all the practical advantages. If any two 
make a pair the lot are vastly more usable and salable; five 
horses at a change will do as much as six (or even nine) — 
(as three wheelers and three leaders) to work turn about, 
each having his day off every fourth day. If all of a size, 
they may work off side, nigh side, lead or wheel; or any 
horse may change individually to any team. This cannot 
be managed in any other way, and anyhow no one will remark 
upon the uniformity of size except that, at the changes, some 
hypercritical passenger may comment upon it, and he may 
be silenced by finding the town team of the conventional 

4S 



DRIVING 

difference in shape. Some people again prefer leaders taller 
than wheelers, and they do, from the coach top, look better 
if thus arranged. As a general thing, however, the leaders 
are about an inch less tall than the wheelers, but there is 
every advantage in uniform size. 

Be make and shape what it will, none should be too tall; 
sixteen hands is large enough for anything; fifteen- two 
or-three, better yet. Those huge brutes over sixteen 
hands are cold-blooded, and prove it on a hot day or over a 
long stage. The theory that size is strength; that a sixteen- 
hand horse can do what one two inches smaller cannot; that 
our modem roads and loads compel any such size and height 
before a coach ; that pace and condition can be maintained in 
our climate with these big htilking beggars — are all sheerest 
fallacy. And, for another thing, these big horses are hard to 
find, expensive to buy and almost impossible to sell easily. 
Cast aside all tradition and imaginary English requirements 
ctdled from old prints (generally sadly out of drawing) and 
let common sense prevail on you not to go to extremes in 
height or in any other feature of coaching. 

A public coach-horse has been pithily and aptly described 
as "an unfortunate animal which has seen an uncommonly 
large amount of grief in an unusually short space of time" 
and it is regrettable that the description so accurately fits 
the subject. An ex-public coach-horse is good for precious 
little but a general-purpose wagon of some sort. He will (if he 
has been the slow horse of his team) hop, skip, hobble and 
gallop; he will charge his hills at full speed, and come down 
the last part of them flying; he generally has a one-sided 
mouth; and is sure to be hitting his poor legs somewhere, or 
everywhere. Whatever you give for him, he is desperately 
dear at the price ; therefore the moral is obvious ! 

46 



ROAD-COACHING 

Imprimis, your neophyte must go a good pace at the trot, 
and move freely and clear all round. Never trust one that 
wings or dishes, for he will surely interfere somewhere when 
tired. He must be bold-fronted, bridle well, be short-coupled, 
and well sprung as to ribs, rounded as to hips, or he will fade 
in condition ; must have fair bone, good feet, shoulders, eyes 
and wind; have a well-turned deep quarter, and carry a nice 
tail; and be thick through everywhere in proportion to his 
height, to meet, to follow and to side-view. Any colour is 
suitable but yellow bay, but not too many fancy colours, or 
flash-marked legs and faces, for the economical reason that 
they are bad sellers. Mares are as good as geldings and 
better. A ruined mare has some value for breeding purposes. 
Pair them off, if you would drive them comfortably, by 
mouths and manners rather than by exact appearance; by 
length rather than by height, for a long rangy-finished horse, 
and a short-necked one rarely make a nice driving pair, and 
one or other must pull unless the couplings, etc., are very 
nicely adjusted, while the short horse is over-driven, as 
seeming to be constantly behind his partner (this applies 
especially to wheel-horses). 

Do not imagine that it takes weeks of preliminary condi- 
tioning to get coach-horses ready. Nothing can be more 
absurd. Naturally they must not be right off grass, but 
equally certainly the ordinary stage of say seven miles at a 
ten-mile average pace is not going to harm any of them, if 
properly driven and cooled out. Sweat he may, shrink he 
must, for a week or two, but what of it ? He is but getting 
rid of useless tissue. Horse-shows have educated in us a 
" false eye " in the matter of condition, and we strive to keep 
horses far too fleshy, and imagine that if they grow thin they 
cannot work ably; the angular lines of a horse in real con- 



DRIVING 

dition are not attractive, but that is immaterial. Naturally 
if you sweat and thoroughly exhaust half-bred or cold- 
blooded horses twice a day six days a week, they will show 
it very plainly ; but, as is customary, the " long middle groimd, " 
which two teams work over only once daily, will help this if 
each team on the road is in turn changed to it for a couple 
of weeks. 

This changing about, not only of teams but of indi- 
vidual horses, greatly assists in keeping up the driver's 
interest, as practically furnishing endless new combinations 
— another advantage of having all animals about the same 
size and height. Horses are very cunning, and after a few 
weeks of the same ground the only incidents of the run are 
that your wheelers invariably try to "cut comers" and 
afford you, if an " opposition loop " maniac, ample oppor- 
tunity for practise. Otherwise one may as well drive a 
hack, or a 'bus, so far as excitement goes. 

Horses should be shod as lightly, snugly and plainly 
as possible. If you try tips (except possibly on the town 
team) you will like them, and never have an overreach, speedy 
cut interference, etc. Horses should never be changed 
directly at the stables, but a mile away or thereabouts. This 
will make the grooms find fault, perhaps, but they will do 
that over something anyhow. Changed at this distance 
they get well cooled walking to the stable, and land there 
about tranquil as to respiration and circulation. If the 
heart and Itmgs are normal on arrival, little harm can come to 
horses in hard condition for having to wait their turn for 
thorough cooling; but if a "red-hot" team changes directly 
at its stables, damage will, not improbably, sooner or later 
be done. 

Human nature is what it is, and two grooms left to their 



ROAD-COACHING 

own resources (and possibly not agreeing very cordially) 
can ruin by their carelessness a horse or two in short order. 
The fresh team also is vastly helped by this preliminary 
walk; their circiilation is put in order for use, and they are 
otherwise "readied" for immediate fast work. This is a 
most important detail, and has direct bearing on condition. 
Shoulders and backs should always be well sponged with 
cold water under collar and pad places that the pores of the 
skin may be closed at once. 

There is everything in picking your road; not only as 
concerns ascents and declivities, " cheating them out of 
the hill," etc., but in choosing the best of the going: 
evading soft spots, letting your leaders do plenty of work 
at a stony bit ; favouring them at a breakwater, so that the 
pole shall not thrash and jerk each horse in turn; straddling 
all ruts that good footing may be had; easing them nicely 
out of car-tracks so that one or the other wheel-horse does 
not have the whole coach for a moment to strain at ; pulling 
up, if possible, so that advantage is taken of any little declivity 
and the coach starts that much more easily, etc. — dozens 
of things that a genuine coachman will notice and avail his 
team of, just as he will regiilate chafing crown-pieces, 
tight girths, wrong coupling and bitting, short-pole chains, 
imeven or too long traces, blinkers too close, etc. 

Another thing he will do, although if you will ask him he 
will vehemently deny it: he will ease one horse after 
another, as the stage grows long, and they begin to hang, 
just for a stride or two, to get a few good, full breaths and 
"take a fresh grip" as it were. Once a poorly bred horse 
begins to tell you by lots of signs that he has had enough, it 
is "up to you," if worthy the name of coachman, to "nurse 
him home," and this demands all your skill, attention, 



DRIVING 

knowledge and "horse sense." Of course.you can go slow — 
for after all there is no real reason why you shotild observe 
your time-table — but as it is part of the game to " keep time," 
one should strive to do it. Any one can manage it with a 
fresh team, but if you can do it with a dead-beat or a sick 
horse, and not ovenvork the other three, you are pretty nearly 
an artist, "opposition loop" or no, and can do what ninety 
per cent, never learn or try to understand. 

Speaking of keeping time, of course you will start always 
to the second, the guard calling " coach ! " about five minutes 
beforehand, which gives you time to load, mount your box 
and be ready about a minute ahead of time. Some amateurs 
are very careless in this respect, and it, of course, makes no 
real difference, save that punctuality is part of the " colour- 
scheme" of the whole high-comedy performance. 

It is inevitable that if your coach runs during the exhaust- 
ing weather of the summer season you must, if horses are to 
retain their flesh and courage, have recourse to powerful 
tonics and drugs. This is supposing that you mean to always 
keep your time, despite heat, and that you are bent on doing 
so with your original number of horses. Of course, if one 
can hire whole teams, or odd horses as needed, and have one's 
coach always overhorsed, one will pull through ; but no coach- 
horse of the average breeding will work his season out in hot 
weather without artificial treatment, and to this end quinine 
and the much abused, because misunderstood, arsenic are 
indicated. These powerful tonics, given in the food daily, 
will create an appetite and insure bodily condition that 
will be proof against any severity of work, and, properly 
tapered off at each end, no after ill effects are possible. Thus 
either the sixty-grain quinine solution or Fowler's solution 
of arsenic (or both mixed) given — a tablespoonftd in the feed 

5° 



ROAD-COACHING 

once daily for one week, then two tablespoonfuls daily for 
two weeks, then one for one week, then omit — will give great 
satisfaction not only to horses, but to the owner as well. 
If, in addition, the animals are induced to drink deeply and 
often, by natural or artificial means, their provender will do 
them all the more good — and they must drink to thrive. 

Legs and feet will need attention after the first few days 
or weeks, and more or less bandaging, particularly of the hind 
legs, will be necessary. Showering of water from a hose held 
at a distance will afford a beneficial shock and cause the 
vessels to contract; and as the horses are not meant for 
extended use it does not much matter if they are bandaged 
tightly, since the evils of the practice will not become too 
evident before their passing on to other ownerships. It 
may be said here, however, that there is no stable practice 
less understood, more abused or more directly detrimental 
to duration of reasonable soundness than this generally 
absurd performance of indiscriminate bandaging. 

Coach-horses when off duty should be kept as quiet as 
are race-horses and every inducement offered them to rest 
and recuperate. As low-bred creatures they will respond 
to nvirsing, and their idle hours should not be disturbed, 
but quiet be preserved. Their consequent spirit and con- 
dition will greatly improve, and this is one of the many 
neglected trifles which have all to do with pleasure in driving 
and satisfaction in undertaking such an enterprise. 

Horses must be kept naturally, and the uncalled-for 
blanketing which is so fashionable, be sternly tabooed. 
Cool them thoroughly and leave them stripped except in the 
face of sudden change of temperature or if flies are very 
annoying (although a darkened stable and the use of any of 
the familiar preparations so distasteful to insects will mitigate 

SI 



DRIVING 

this trouble). Get air in plenty, day and night, even if you 
have to smash all the windows and the door panels with an 
ax; and don't allow a groom to tell you what is best for horses, 
any more than you would regard his tip on the Wall Street 
market — his knowledge is as valuable in the one case as in 
the other. Get them all the fresh air you can — and then try 
to get a little more — and believe that horses in hard condition 
will bear, and are the better for, exposure that is generally 
regarded as destructive. 

Never fail to have their mouths overhauled by a thor- 
oughly competent dentist, that all sharp edges, "wolf teeth," 
etc., may be attended to. Your comfort in driving and theirs 
in eating and digesting depend greatly on this. 

What then is the approximate cost of running a road 
coach per month, including, for example, four teams and their 
substitutes (five horses being regarded as a team) ? The 
usual month's account would be about as follows: 

Keep 20 horses @ $i per day $600 

Shoeing 50 

Man @ $50, boy @ $20, to each team 380 

Extra man on coach @ $50 50 

Guard @ $60 60 

Repairs and incidentals 50 

$i,ogo 

This contemplates keeping the animals at livery. The man 
and boy (or two men if no boy is kept) may accompany their 
horses to and fro over each stage, riding inside the coach, 
and that is probably the best way, as by it the men accom- 
pany their own horses at all times. Otherwise an extra man 
carried inside the whole distance (who may be the town 
man) helps at changes, etc. Expenses may be lessened if 
stalls are hired and food bought, provided the promoter is a 
good "shopper." If a superintendent is employed his salary 

S2 



ROAD-COACHING 

will be about $75 per month; and a "cock-horse" boy, if one 
is kept, will demand about $20 per month; and will be em- 
ployed on the horses at some change. Shoeing expenses 
will be very much less if "tips" only are used, and many 
economies can be practised if the owner is prepared to actively 
supervise. 

Although it can hardly be classed as a road-coach, the 
establishment locally of what may be called a "neighbour- 
hood-coach " has in it all the elements of good sport, and of 
furnishing to many friends, etc., the delights of such outings. 
The vehicle and harness should be bought by subscription — 
the coach at about $700, the harness at probably $150 — 
since second-hand articles are plenty good enough, and the 
whole should be neat and unpretentious. Either four horses 
may be bought, or, preferably, the neighbourhood may con- 
tribute various and sundry pairs and single animals to make 
up the four; it being arranged that such contributions offset 
the subscriptions necessary to the purchase of the vehicle, 
etc. Thus say six or seven persons could be furnished, one 
day per week, with a coach and four, the drives, of course, to 
be limited to a certain distance, and it being agreed that any 
one going farther must provide his own horses. About 
$1,200 for the original outfit, horses and all, and $4 per day 
for keep and a small sum for shoeing, etc., will afford the 
subscribers weekly drives at really trifling individual outlay. 



53 



CHAPTER VI 

DRIVING FOR NOVICES 

Like Mr. Pvmch's advice to those about to marry, this 
chapter must perforce be replete with " Don'ts," but it seems 
diffictdt to offer hints to the neophyte without warning him 
more against the sins of commission than those of omission. 

Oddly enough, for learning to drive there is nothing like 
driving, and the hvimble brick-cart and grocer- v/agon offered 
opportunities in childhood's times (if we made ourselves 
" solid " with the charioteers) which we were foolish to over- 
look. Lacking this juvenile experience (which would, in 
the natural order of things, put us in line for a finishing 
course under capable instruction) we shotild neglect no 
opportvinity, if possessed with the sacra fames of the truly 
ambitions, to essay the navigation of any and every variety 
of "gee-gee" singly and in varying combination which 
kindly chance or intelligent intention places in our path; 
heeding not the jibes and jeers of the carping critic, and as 
absorptive as sponges of every word of advice and act of 
demonstration which ears and eyes can compass. The 
careful study of the methods of a "real workman" — not 
only what he does but especially what he avoids doing — will 
prove vastly helpful, and if we can but find in such a one a 
patient and kindly mentor, there are, given ordinary nerve, 
common sense, "horse sense" and perseverance, no heights 
which we may not successfully attempt. 

As dear old Lord Diondreary used to say, " If you had 
a sister, would she like flowers ? " And in the same irrelevant 



DRIVING 

manner, may it be asked if you play the piano, or any musical 
instrument. For if you do, your pathway will be greatly 
eased. Such an accomplishment presupposes a delicacy of 
touch, an intuitive perception of resistance and force, an 
artistic appreciation which will prove enormously helpful to 
you in your efforts. As an old riding-master used despairingly 
to remark to his lady pupils: " Mon Dieu, madam, you play 
ze piano ! Well ? Yes ? And how many year you practise 
for play heem well ? Five ? And you will I teach you to 
ride parfaitement in twenty lesson — twenty hour — one day? 
Ah, zees Americans ! Ze horse's mouth is far more difficult 
for learn to play zan ze piano ! " It is for the reason that 
most women are musicians that horses go quietly with them ; 
their gentle manipulation and their non-aggressiveness assist 
mutual understanding and good- will. A woman lets the 
animal perform his task in most respects after his own fashion ; 
the domineering and frequently ignorant masculine insists 
upon it that his shall be the method pursued — results speak 
for themselves. 

Have no preference as to mouths, manners and all the 
rest — or at least do not indiolge them. The best practice 
comes from driving all kinds and plenty of different varieties. 
Yovir one particular steed teaches you nothing; he puts up 
with your follies, you learn his foibles, and, like most joint- 
stock concerns, neither of you prosper as you would under 
the stimulus of novelty and competition. The novice would 
better hire a different horse every day than to buy one and 
stick to him for years, deceived into the idea that holding 
the reins and merely keeping off the sidewalks and out of . 
the shop windows is really driving. 

One cannot drive without sitting down, and that position 
should from the first be correct, easy and firm. Sit squarely 

s6 



DRIVING FOR NOVICES 

down on your seat or cushion ; not on the end of your spine, 
with your feet stuck far out in front, as if rowing a boat, but 
upright, and with the legs forming an angle at the base of 
the spine, which will make you, for comfort's sake, hollow 
your back; and which position in turn will give you a "feel" 
to wrist, forearm and hand which you never knew before. 
That is the one excuse for the criminally hazardous position 
of late so fashionable — the " monkey-on-a-stick " attitude, 
with the heels back against the seat-fall, the knees and centre 
of gravity far in advance of them, and the end of the spine 
balanced on the edge of the cushion. It does give you a light, 
springy "feel," but this comes from the necessarily upright 
carriage and hollow waist, and not at all from the otherwise 
eccentric attitude. 

The reins are held in the left hand, the left or nigh rein 
coming over the first finger and thence through the palm, 
the right or off rein coming between the second and third 
fingers, thence through the palm, thus separating the reins by 
the width of two fingers and enabling quite a wide change in 
direction to be made by merely turning the hand and wrist. 

The left hand, which holds the reins, should, if the horse 
is properly bitted and mouthed, be carried half-way across 
the body, and the wrist a trifle bent outward. This affords 
an easy "give-and-take," and although the straight forearm, 
wrist and hand may afford more power on a hard-mouthed 
horse, that position is not so good for the acquirement and 
retention of a delicate touch. Naturally at first you will be 
at a loss to do this comfortably ; and of course you will always 
be guided by circumstances in your attitude and resistance; 
but practice will soon make it easy for you and perfectly 
automatic. The elbows should lie close to the sides, falling 
naturally, and not squared. 

57 



DRIVING 

Do not tug at a horse's mouth, but always drive as if 
any sudden pull or sharp jerk might break the reins. How- 
ever dtill he may be, always have enough feeling of the bit 
to have him under control, and keep him up to it to that 
extent. At any hole, gutter or sudden elevation be sure 
your hand and arm freely "follow" his mouth, and do not 
let them administer a sudden jerk to it as the vehicle drops 
or rises. When starting, just feel your steed's mouth an 
instant before you start, as a signal to him that you are 
about to require of him motion, and this should be done 
whether you mean to go forward or backward; it enables 
him to tighten his muscles and collect himself, physically 
and mentally, to obey your instnictions. Prepare him for 
stopping, or for turning, or for increasing or diminishing his 
pace in the same manner. He will appreciate your attention 
and respond in kind, be sure of that. 

Relax the muscles, not only of the wrist and forearm, 
but of the whole body. You may argue that if you do so 
you will lose control of your horse; but not so, for even as 
you thus allow your frame and touch to become pliant, so 
apparently does he, and this mutual abandonment of stiff 
and awkward resistance cannot be too carefully cultivated. 
If you ordinarily feel tired after driving your horse, how 
much more must that nervous strain and insensible resistance 
exhaust and annoy him, who has also the actual physical 
labour to perform. Be natural, easy, pliant and effortless. 

The same remarks hold good in driving two, four or more 
— but never attempt them in reverse order or you will inevi- 
tably spoil forever your "hand" and lightness of touch; and 
do not essay any advance until you can handle one horse 
really well — in a way that thoroughly satisfies you. Of 
course, you will find plenty to learn even if you drive all day 

S8 



DRIVING FOR NOVICES 

and every day for a century, but never be satisfied with 
mediocrity. Nothing is to be speedily and thoroughly 
learned from perfectly trained animals; therefore take them 
as they come, and be sure they change frequently. Especially 
is this true of pairs, fours, etc., where the lazy and the free, 
the cowardly and the bold, the generous and the rascally 
may all blend to your eternal advantage. 

Keep your whip-hand free usually, but close to your left 
hand, and, if occasion demands, take a rein in each hand; but 
keep them close together and near your body. This is 
necessar}^ with many bad-mouthed and awkward horses, and 
is not at all unworkmanlike — nothing is which quietly and 
perfectly accomplishes your object. Do not get the idea 
that "light hands" means barely touching a horse's mouth. 
Needs vary, and he has the finest "hands" who makes his 
horse perform promptly, gracefully and at ease to himself 
the task set him. This quality may be roughly defined as 
" the instinctive knowledge of just when, and in what degree, 
to properly apply, increase or relax restraint," and it is 
evident that, this being the case, an animal's mouth may 
sometimes be handled very roughly and yet "good hands" 
be strongly in evidence. 

Always signal with your whip when pulling up or starting 
off, and which way you are about to turn, whether in traffic 
or in the desert of Sahara. It safeguards the general public 
as well as yourself and is an important feature in the greatly 
neglected courtesy of the road. 

The reins are never to be shortened by taking hold of 
them with the right hand behind the left, as is the general 
custom, but always by placing the right hand in advance, 
and either by sliding the left up to it or, preferably, by 
pushing the reins back through the relaxed left fingers. It 

59 



DRIVING 

is often advisable, just at starting, to take a rein in each 
hand as tending to better manipulate a mouth which may 
be strange to you and you to it. This does not necessarily 
mean letting go of the right rein with the left hand, however. 
The right hand is not to take the rein between the first and 
second finger, but outside the little finger, grasping it in the 
little, third and second fingers, and doing this with an " over- 
hand" motion or clutch, easily learned from observation. 
To turn to the right, then, this "overhand" motion places 
your named fingers on the right rein a few inches in advance 
of the left, and your turn is made without suffering the rein 
to slip at all through the fingers of the left hand. To turn 
to the left, your right hand in the same fashion takes the 
left rein and draws it back toward and over the left hand. 
As expertness increases you will, when making these curves, 
loop the rein over the first finger of the left (if turning to the 
left), confining it by pressure of the thumb, taking up what 
you judge will be sufficient slack to effect your purpose; and 
in the same way for a right turn you will make your loop 
between the second and third fingers of the left hand, in all 
cases suffering the loop to slide away when facing satisfactorily 
your new direction. You will finally, when driving a well- 
bitted horse, effect this by carrying the wrist and forearm 
across the body to the right and turning the knuckles up 
(to make a left turn) ; carrying the hand out to the left and 
down beside the thigh, and turning the knuckles down (to go 
to the right). The left fingers close on a sort of graduated 
scale and are not all equally tense, the first serving rather 
as a support to the reins and the grasp coming from the other 
three. Large, loose and long-fingered gloves should always 
be worn, loose at wrist as well, and they should be regularly 
treated with glove-paste or resin to make them adhesive. 

60 



DRIVING FOR NOVICES 

When a horse is standing never tighten his reins or move 
his bit; he always regards this as a signal to start. Your 
whip should be held gracefully up and diagonally across the 
body, grasping it at whatever point it seems to balance best, 
and you should never use it with a " flicking " motion, as if 
you meant to snap it on the horse's hide, but with a drawing 
stroke, diagonal and well before the hips (or he may kick) 
or even the pad. A dullard will respond to a stroke under 
the shaft, on the thin skin of the thigh, or to a blow down 
the shoidder or under forearm. Do not be eternally tapping 
him — nothing makes him so surely sluggish. Hit him for a 
reason only, and hit him smartly when you have to do so. 

If you must speak to him, use the " c'lk," and not that 
p-w-e-e-p of the lips which is suggestive of a dicky-bird. 
Enforce prompt response to any word you do use, if it is 
disregarded, with the whip. He associates the two signals, 
or should do so. 

Learn to shut your hands on the reins and keep them 
where you close them without their always sliding through 
and needing shortening at critical times. Practise incessantly 
until this becomes automatic and you will make an advance 
which not one person in a htindred ever accomplishes. 

Pick your road carefully and constantly, not by abrupt 
turns, but by always having an eye forward for the good 
spots and for obstructions, and quietly availing yourself of 
the one, evading the other. 

Go over the brow of a hill quietly and give and take to 
your horse as he bends to your restraint. Never give before 
he does, but alwa^^s reward his submission by instantly 
dropping yotu" hand a shade, easing him, shifting the bit's 
resting place and beginning anew — an infinitesimal yielding 
is enough, and this is " hands " in its best development. 



DRIVING 

Pace, and the best methods to judge and preserve it, 
is all a matter of practise, and an expert will steal away the 
miles in an effortless way both to himself and to his steed that 
is a treat to watch and a science to acquire. Do not suffer 
your animal when at a walk to wander aimlessly along, but 
" drive " him at that gait as at all others, making him do his 
work properly and promptly. The worst performer is 
susceptible of great improvement if you will only take the 
trouble to educate him. 

A four-wheeled vehicle is better than a two-wheeler 
for every reason, and the horse is not so apt to fall, to 
kick or to misbehave in such a carriage. It is harder to 
turn round, or to back, and more instructive for that. 
You should practise turning it rotind in real or imaginary 
narrow lanes, both by driving round and by "backing and 
filling," until instinctively you know just when and how 
the act is feasible. 

You should harness your horse yourself as to all his 
paraphernalia, and acquaint yourself thoroughly with the 
use and purpose of every strap and buckle in every kind of 
harness, single, double and four-in-hand. Take a harness 
all to pieces and put it together again repeatedly until you 
" know of your own knowledge " just how everything goes. 
Not one driver in five hundred can do this, but there is no 
excuse for ignorance, and proper pride in your enterprise 
should compel you to rehearse this thoroughly. Absorb all 
available information about every detail of equipment and 
its fit by observation, by inquiry and by reading, thus 
not only promoting your own practical knowledge and 
personal enjoyment, but guaranteeing to the travelling 
public that by no careless or ignorant act of yours shall 
its safety be jeopardised. 




CONCORD WAGON 




PNEUMATIC ROAD-WAGON WITH SHIFTING TOP 




MATINEE OR SPEEDING WAGON 



CHAPTER VII 

DRIVING ONE HORSE 

So MUCH has been written of the driving of a single 
animal in the chapter on "Driving for Novices" that but 
little remains to be said upon the matter here save in the 
general direction of putting to, etc. Much that will appear 
in the chapters on driving two and four will apply also to 
the driving of one horse ; in fact, the one is but a rehearsal 
for the more complicated performance of the other. 

To be first-class in single harness an animal should bridle 
well, carry an arched neck and possess a flexible mouth and 
good courage. A slug, a hard-mouthed horse or a nervous, 
excitable one may answer in a pair or a team, but, as the 
"power before the throne," the beast for single harness 
should be well mannered and well balanced. 

His harness should be appropriate in size ana shape 
to the vehicle and to himself, and all three should be 
proportionate. Nothing savours more of the ignoramus or 
the vulgarian than noticeable discrepancies in these respects, 
and this harmony is one of the essentials — almost the only 
requisite — of perfect appointment. If we strive for elegance 
of effect in our own apparel, so also must our horse's 
"clothes" fit him to a nicety, and all equipment be in 
keeping with this idea. In fact, if Fortune allows, every 
horse should have his own harness, or at least his own 
bridle and collar, as contributing vastly to his comfort, 
and this should fit him like a glove. 

Many bridles are too short in the brow-band and pinch 
63 



DRIVING 

the horse about the ears; the bhnkers are too close for some, 
flare too much for others. The harness pads do not fit every 
back ahke. The girths are often too long or the straps them- 
selves too nan-ow. The collar should fit exactly, very snugly 
at first, if the horse is in good flesh, as it will work easier 
with usage, and, if he shrinks, will still fit fairly well. In 
fitting the collar attention should always be paid to existing 
bodily conditions. The back strap must always be rather 
loose, not strained tightly from the pad to the dock, but 
lying slack along the backbone. Nothing will more surely 
make a horse kick than a tight crupper, especially since we 
have now usurped the place of the breeching by the use of 
the tugs for holding back the load — and, by the way, always 
be sure before starting that the loop of the tug is before the 
stop on the shaft and the shaft-girth at its proper tension. 
Be certain also that the shafts are amply wide and long, and 
that the traces are a proper length — neither too long, as being 
too far away from the load; nor too short, as endangering 
the occupants, if the hocks should touch the vehicle. Rather 
thin reins are the most comfortable, and they should be cut 
from an inch to an inch and a quarter in width. 

What the rudder is to the ship the bit is to the horse, 
and his preferences must be carefully consulted by experiment. 
Whatever form and size suits him best is the "proper" 
article. We are all prone to do too much with the curb-chain 
and not enough with the nose-band. By this is meant that 
we allow an animal to dodge the effect of the bit by opening 
his mouth, or as some rogues will, by using the teeth or the 
lips to prevent the bit's action. For this reason the " elbow " 
bit is the most useful of arrangements. As generally made, 
the nose-band is merely an ornament to a bridle, and fails 
by many holes of buckling tight enough to firmly shut the 

64 



DRIVING ONE HORSE 

mouth. It was, however, invented to effect just that purpose, 
and should be so used. The animal who pulls when driven 
at the middle or lower bar will frequently go pleasantly at 
cheek or half-cheek, once he finds that by properly applying 
the nose-band he cannot dodge the issue. The results are 
far less painful to him, while he at once improves in "mouth 
and manners" — two accomplishments which are usually 
correlative. 

The use of the curb-chain is generally misunderstood, 
and much agony is inflicted by its ignorant abuse. Many 
horses go more pleasantly if it is — at least, over the sharp 
edges of the jaw-bones — covered with leather or chamois- 
skin. A tight chain is rarely useful, and by impeding circula- 
tion it deadens sensation, only making a bad matter worse. 
On the contrary, if too slack and the horse very limber of 
neck, it loses all effect by his dropping his chin to his chest, 
and thereby changing the whole angle of draft to the top 
of his own head and not to his mouth at all — that is, if 
the bearing-rein be omitted, as nowadays it frequently is. 
A twisted chain is very severe, and rarely needful if the nose- 
band is appropriately used. The port bit is never called for, 
and is a most brutal machine. The four-ringed snaffle is a 
very useful article and suits all mouths. If bits are too 
wide, circular cheek-pieces of heavy leather should be placed 
on the mouth-piece. The gag-check is, within limits, a very 
useful appliance. Many horses will not drive pleasantly 
without it, and the same may be said of the much-abused 
and misunderstood "bristle-burr," a perfectly harmless 
means of control on certain headstrong, plunging brutes 
with one-sided mouths. That it is comfortable no one argues 
— that it is cruel any horseman will deny and disprove. 
If one of the two, in this connection, must be iincomfortable, 

6s 



DRIVING 

let it be the horse, and by no means the person whose pleastire 
or duty it is to use him; especially as the mere fact that the 
animal is thus inconvenienced may, properly managed, effect 
partial or complete reformation. Barbados aloes applied 
to gnawed finger-tips or sucked thumbs is not especially 
enjoyable to the infantile delinquent whose vagaries render 
such correction necessary — but the result is effectual — or 
used to be forty years ago ! 

Conventionality enters largely into all our methods, 
and driving is by no means exempt from this characteristic. 
Fortunately our accepted fashions are in this respect mostly 
founded upon practicality and good sense, but there are 
various departures from "correct form, " so-called, which are 
equally as serviceable and in some ways possibly more so. 

Reins should invariably be pliable — not too wide — about 
an inch or a trifle over being the usual width — and the gloves 
should always be well dressed with resin, or the glove-paste 
manufactured for the purpose; the gloves themselves being 
always very loose and at least a size too large. 

It is a fact that in most of our driving maneuvers we 
expect too immediate compliance from our signals to our 
horses' mouths ; that we indicate to them our desires too late 
in making our turns or in pulling up. The horse possesses 
a complicated anatomical structure, and instant compliance 
is not always possible to him. Thus it is always more difficult 
to pull sharply up in the middle of the road than at the curb- 
stone; harder to make a quick turn in an unobstructed space 
than around a comer, whose neighbourhood has warned our 
observant steed that a change of direction was at least possible, 
as the propinquity of the sidewalk has had the effect on our 
horse of preparing it for a stop. Your smart performer will 
be seen to " take hold " of his horses* mouths some moments 



DRIVING ONE HORSE 

before he makes his stop; and even if the demand upon his 
skill is sudden he does not pull up his team with one steady 
dead haul, but takes a sharp hold for a second, eases away 
like a flash, and " comes again " once or twice — effecting his 
purpose by repeated signals, but so deftly and consecutively, 
almost or quite unconsciously, that his animals are prepared 
for the final effort and brace themselves for it, hocks under, 
balance back and forelegs out. Probably such a coachman 
would deny these methods, not being himself aware of them, 
but he uses them — and he does something else. The moment 
his trained hand detects yielding and compliance he eases 
away and "drops to them," so that they comfortably and 
quietly do his bidding. This very thing he also does in 
starting and in turning — his signals always preceding the 
actual call for efEort or change of direction. Such a man 
will mount his seat, sit perfectly still, never speak a word to 
his horse, yet at the moment he desires his animal moves 
quickly and collectedly off with its load. Why? and how? 
Because the subtly delicate telegraph has signalled for 
preparation and finally for motion — yet all so quietly and 
vmconsciously that the watcher will hardly detect a movement 
in the bits, or an extra wrinkle in the mouth-angles. This is 
the quintessence of coachmanship, the essence of " hands " — 
and all horses, be they ever so raw and rough, will work 
their hearts out for such a man ; yet his lips will never move, 
his whip be rarely used, and all bittings and couplings smt 
him and them. 

It is over these all-important details that we have never 
yet wasted printers' ink; while voltmies and pages have been 
exhausted in discussing this and that rule-of-thiimb method 
of competent reinsmanship. The matter of merely holding 
the reins — of secondary or tertiary importance — has absorbed 

67 



DRIVING 

our attention to the utter neglect of the vital essentials; and 
no teacher has ever called attention, save in a casual way, to 
the important details which are, after all, so entirely a matter 
of practice, of individual ability and of personal magnetism 
and " horse sense. ' ' The writer has seen the late Mr. Frederick 
Bronson, beyond doubt one of the finest road-coachmen 
America has ever known, when going fourteen miles an 
hour, make an apparently instantaneous turn into a street 
he had nearly passed — so that his leaders were nearly opposite 
the further sidewalk — when suddenly informed that " this is 
the street" ; yet although the team did not know the way and 
were utterly unprepared, this wonderfully good coachman 
found the time, almost between strides, to "give them the 
office" ere he made the beautifully symmetrical and exact 
curve that took him promptly into his proper road, every 
horse in place and no effort on either side apparent. This 
sort of work is "driving" in its best development, and few 
indeed are the men capable of advancing to its perfection, or 
willing to take the trouble to try. 

Reins are generally held in the left hand, divided by 
the first and second fingers; the right hand being kept close 
to the left and ready for use in various ways at a moment's 
notice. While reins are generally held in this fashion, how- 
ever, there is a growing fashion noticeable of holding the 
reins in two hands, especially at starting. In this case the 
right rein is seized by the little and third fingers, and the 
rein goes up through the full hand and over the thumb. 
Thus the two hands being still kept close together, the rein 
is readily returned to the left at any instant — as when using 
the whip with the right — and the driver is what nature 
intended him to be, ambidextrous in this as in other con- 
nection. Diagonal changes of direction need no assistance 

63 



DRIVING ONE HORSE 

from the right hand, but if turning to the left the hand is 
dropped beside the left thigh, the knuckles up and the thumb 
toward the body ; if to the right the same motion is used, but 
the knuckles are turned down and the thumb forward. 

In sharper turns to the right and left the appropriate 
rein is seized by the same fingers of the right hand at a 
distance from the left sxifficient to insure the desired angle 
and the rein drawn back toward the body, looped if preferred 
over the first finger of the left hand as in looping the lead- 
reins in four-in-hand driving; and this is done always with 
the wrist and forearm, the elbows never moving from their 
easy, natural position close to the sides. Complete circles are 
made in the same way, both in driving one or a pair, and the 
handling of the reins generally is identical in the two cases. 
Not a few novices think that they are safer if driving two- 
wheeled vehicles, or those that cut iinder, if four-wheeled. 
It is true that these vehicles turn more easily, but this advan- 
tage is slight, and it is much better to learn to handle carriages 
of ordinary shape rather than of any special construction. 
Any ordinary street, road or lane is wide enough nowadays 
to easily turn the average vehicle. 



69 



CHAPTER VIII 

DRIVING A PAIR 

A PAIR of horses is not merely two animals attached to 
the same vehicle and guided by the same reins. A pair must 
be that in all the name implies: in size, shape, colour (same, 
or appropriately contrasting, or cross-matched), action, 
disposition, mouths and manners; and the putting together 
of a first-class combination of this sort is a work of time and 
skill. They must be of similar speed at all variety of paces, 
and must " step and go " together. One that is inclined to go 
stiff kneed and one that folds them cleanly, one that drags 
his hocks stiffly and one that flexes them boldly, one sluggard 
and one free horse, will never make a satisfactory pair, be they 
physically ever so much alike. Variations in height, weight 
or colour are far preferable to difference in style, action or 
speed; while for lasting pleasure, mouths and dispositions 
must be nearly identical, or all the previous labour of selection 
goes for naught. 

If one would match a horse already on hand, plenty 
of deliberation must be used. It is not enough that the 
two drive alike up and down the block and round the park. 
Fatigue may affect them differently, and one entirely outlast 
the other in an hour's drive. Your eye must be educated to 
appreciate the changes in development which condition may 
effect, and to anticipate the conformation which the thin 
horse may show when fattened, or the dealer's gross " market 
horse" when shrunk to workaday proportions. Some men 
have an extraordinary faculty of "carrying in the eye" 

71 



DRIVING 

horses which they wish to mate, and are able to select 
suitable partners at any time and place, and almost at a 
glance. This is a precious natural gift, and not one man it 
ten thousand possesses it — but that one can turn the accom- 
plishment into a bountiful equivalent in hard cash. 

Solid colours are preferable for all heavy-harness purposes. 
The grays and roans shed hairs which are very noticeable on 
dark clothes (although such horses will be less objectionable 
if carefully wiped over with resined hands before going 
out in order to remove all hairs that chance to be loose). 
White markings are, if very liberal in extent, generally 
objected to, as not quite so "genteel" as the solid colours, 
although this objection hardly applies to any but brougham, 
landau and victoria horses, or to those intended for ladies' 
use. 

Once obtained, your pair will never prove satisfactory 
unless properly "put to" and "put together" — nor, after all 
these preliminaries, unless capably driven. The art of 
"putting together" horses is acquired only by experience, 
and not then if "horse sense" be lacking. The trouble 
with us all in such connections is that we do not do as well 
as we can, even after we learn how. We realise that the 
alteration of a coupling, the dropping of a bit, the change of 
a hole in the traces will make the bays, which are a little at 
odds to-day, work pleasantly together, but it is too much 
trouble to make the alterations, and we finish our drive, after 
an uncomfortable experience, to the relief of all hands. 
We are not justified for our negligence, and well we know it; 
yet next time very probably we shall repeat the offense — 
it is such both to our animals and to ourselves. 

Horses vary in disposition from day to day, and what 
suits them on one occasion will by no means answer on 



DRIVING A PAIR 

another; nor will the same combinations always prove satis- 
factory throughout a drive. Of coiu-se one may go to absurd 
lengths in such details, and one amateur jehu always carried 
a bag of various bits, chains, burrs, gags, etc., and would 
not infrequently make changes in his bitting several times 
during a drive of a few hours. 

Pair-horse harness should fit as snugly as that for the 
single horse, and all parts must be in their right place. The 
most common faults in arranging it are the placing of the 
pads too far forward; leaving the breastplates too long, and 
wearing them only on the kidney-link wires instead of buckled 
securely round collars, hames, etc., as they should be for 
safety, if not for "correct appointment's" sake. For the 
same reason the pole-pieces should go rovmd the collars and 
through the kidney link rings, and not through that ring alone. 
Frightful accidents have followed the omission of thus safe- 
guarding the hames-strap on the top of the collar, which has 
otherwise to support the weight of the vehicle and the strains 
it may be subject to from plunging horses, etc. If one will 
but consider this little strap and its tiny buckle, with a tongue 
no larger than a match — a mere bit of wire — it is safe to say 
that ordinary prudence will make him disregard " correctness " 
to the extent of insuring safety by including the collar- 
throats in embrace of the pole-pieces. 

Checks of some kind, even if horses carry their heads 
alike, are a necessity in pair-horse driving. During cessation 
from travel, and especially in warm weather, flies seek the 
damp places about the animal's ears and eyes, and the 
irritation causes him — as fashion has removed the hairs in 
his ears and shortened that of his mane and foretop to absurd 
proportions — to seek relief by rubbing his head against the 
crab or his mate. Off comes the loosely throat-latched 



DRIVING 

bridle, and away we all go in a most elaborate runaway. 
Or he may catch his bit in the same way on the pole-end and 
run back into a crowd or rear and throw himself. 

Horses are never to be poled up tightly and need a 
certain amount of liberty to use themselves properly. The 
inside trace should be a hole shorter than the outside, unless 
the outer roller-bolt is the larger and unless the animals are 
coupled far apart, as when driven on a yoke, and not on a 
" set " pole with a crab. The angle of the traces must follow 
that of the coupling-reins, and freedom in one respect should 
not accompany restraint in the other. To work and to drive 
to the best advantage they should always be as near their 
load as possible. 

The nose-band, as in single-horse driving, must be 
depended upon for best results in bitting more than the curb- 
chain, and the arrangements of straps, nets, etc., described 
in the chapter on " Four-in-hand Driving " will prove most 
useful, if pullers are to be combated. The couplings must 
be just right, and the low-headed horse vindemeath, which 
saves boundless irritation to his better-proportioned partner. 
This is contrary to custom, but shovild not be so, as any 
practice which punished the innocent is wrong in principle. 
Horses vary greatly in length, and a long-necked or long- 
bodied horse rnust be allowed for in such arrangements, as 
also for that one which is very limber of neck and drops 
away from his bit. 

The same processes as to starting, stopping and turning 
apply to pair as to single-horse driving. The only difference 
in the art is to keep both animals at their work and not allow 
them to do it by spells and unevenly. In light harness the 
whifiietrees and evener afford a guide as to which horse is 
loafing, but when working off the roller-bolts, as in heavy 



DRIVING A PAIR 

harness, no such indication is afforded, and one must be 
guided by the "feel" of the vehicle, by the hand and by the 
appearance of the traces and reins. Comers must be turned 
with both horses in their collars, and the inside animal is 
never to be allowed to drag his partner, or the outside horse 
to push his mate and the carriage round them by main force. 
Horses should frequently be changed about, if sizes wHl 
allow, and should work as freely on one side of the pole as 
the other. This helps to keep their mouths fresh and even, 
and their legs clean, for if one works always in the same place, 
is poled up and coupled close, as is customary in city work 
— because of increasing the handiness of the pair in heavy 
traffic — he is sure to adopt a triangular way of going, and, if 
he " goes close " naturally, to begin to hit himself somewhere 
and to form a one-sided mouth. If one is inclined to be 
timid, and to shy or sheer away from passing objects, he 
should be put on the off side, as being thus in a more protected 
and less disconcerting position. 



7S 



CHAPTER IX ■ 

TANDEM DRIVING 

The writer must, imprimis, frankly confess that there is 
no earthly excuse for writing this chapter, since there is no 
possible reason for, and no real utility in, the use of a tandem 
at all. It combines all the dangers, trials and inconveniences 
of every other style with many peculiar to itself, and it 
affords as impractical a fashion of putting two horses at 
work as can possibly be imagined. Its wheeler works always 
at great disadvantage, in that he may be suddenly pulled on 
to his head going down hill, or on the level, if the tyro charioteer 
is letting his leader get the best of him; or snatched onto his 
side going round a comer; or kicked in the mouth by his 
recalcitrant forerunner; or subjected to various other indig- 
nities trying to temper and painful to physique. The leader 
must, to be perfect, combine the wisdom of the serpent, the 
courage of the lion, the freedom of the eagle ; must look where 
he goes and "go where he looks;" must divine the proper 
direction by the mere " feel " of the traces, since often his reins 
perforce will be loose ; must go gaily up to his bit, but never 
rudely against it; must, in short, possess an amount of 
acumen which never receives one-half of the admiration 
it merits, especially when we remember that we carefiolly 
arrange his blinkers so that he can see neither behind nor to 
either side of him; and generally gag-check him so that his 
gaze must be fixed far into the future or upward toward 
the blazing sun. 

Still tandem driving is undeniably great fim, and it is 

77 



DRIVING 

astounding how many novices will light-heartedly attempt 
it while they foreswear the far simpler task of steering four, 
who perforce help to keep each other straight. The ratio 
in driving is most irregular ; for, while managing a pair is as 
easy as driving one, handling a tandem is twice as hard as 
controlling a four-in-hand. Bar badly mannered horses, 
improper harnessing and incompetent or careless drivers 
and tandem is as safe as any form of driving; but "even 
money, bar three " is a hard bet for which to find takers. 
Especially does the last item cause accident, for the two 
reasons that even the most arrant duffers will persist in 
essaying the feat, and that the expert with four finds very 
often that his hands are too heavy for two and his manipula- 
tion not quick enough to capably perform the task offhand. 
Whatever else you do, be sure at least to get a heavy 
and properly balanced cart, and one not too top-heavy. 
Light gigs and tilburj^s were never intended for such work, 
and woe to you if you foolishly tempt fate in them. " Regu- 
lation" tandem carts are obtainable everywhere, and cheap 
enough, too, either new or second hand, now that the fad is 
on the wane. A " tandem- wagon " was introduced at one 
time which had much merit, as it sat as high as a cart and, 
cutting completely under, was equally as handy. The 
vehicle should be roomy all over (wide and deep), carrying 
four as pleasantly as two; balancing nicely however loaded. 
The cushion should be one that you can sit down upon, not 
prop yourself against, at the risk of a hideous fall if your 
wheeler stumbles. If the cushion is too sloping folded rugs 
will always give the right shape. Attention must be carefully 
paid to the balance and the shaft-girth always left loose, 
that there may be play enough to avoid all " knee-motion " ; 
while the shafts themselves should not be so wide that the 

78 



TANDEM DRIVING 

vehicle through shoulder-action swings awkwardly from side 
to side (or snubbing- straps must be used). By attention to 
girths, by shifting seats or the body by means of patend 
levers provided for that purpose, and by the necessary changes 
of position on the seat, a perfect balance may always be 
maintained over all varieties of ground. 

Your outfit should include as many of the essentials as 
you think you will need — these will be fotmd described under 
the chapter on appointments — but you should always carry 
rein and trace splices, cord, wire, spare bit, jaw-strap, etc. 

However, this is all as fancy dictates, for if there is any 
reason nowadays for the perpetuation or the perpetration of 
the tandem it is solely that of temporary necessity or conve- 
nience, and such being the case, the roughest makeshifts are 
perfectly en regie. Appointed anyhow and everyhow you are 
undeniably " correct " in your relation to this style of driving, 
and your harness and horses may be anything that emergency 
provides. Of course medium-sized to small animals are the 
most available, active and enduring, and the wheeler shotild 
be thicker, stronger and preferably taller than the leader, 
which is usually of a light and rangy build. Many of oiir 
best show tandems, however, make good pairs — good enough 
to win perpetually in that harness — so that horses of prac- 
tically identical shape are all right so far as looks and effect 
go. Be your leader what he will, he should have at least 
two virtues: he must go boldly and lightly up to his bridle 
and he must have a sensitive and responsive mouth, that he 
may turn quickly ; he must also be indifferent to the dangling 
of the traces about his legs. The wheeler may be anything, 
so long as he does not pull hard and is safe to "follow his 
leader," if only you will promptly give him the chance — 
which is at least what you desire. 

79 



DRIVING 

Well-made tandem harness is easily obtainable, but any 
gig harness will do for a wheeler, with a " side " of double 
harness for the leader. If all harnesses are bought made in 
the same general style as to blinkers, pad, etc., endless 
combinations may be made from them, and with a set of 
lead reins and traces, tandem or four-in-hand may be suitably 
arrayed from one set of single and two sets of double harness 
with much ease and economy, instead of keeping, as is usual, 
a separate outfit for single, double, tandem and four-horse 
work. Whatever you use, it should be as plain as possible 
and no superfluities allowed anywhere. You may provide 
change tandem-terrets for your single (wheel) harness, and 
the same to apply to your (wheel) bridle. The traces must 
be as short as possible, and you may, if you like, use the 
double lead-bars which enable one to use ordinary traces for 
lead work instead of the regular lead traces. Compactness 
assists materially. Breeching, or a brake on the cart, is 
useful in hilly countries, and there is no doubt that they 
afford a great boon to the wheeler who must hold back by the 
roots of his tail and by his withers a cart weighing from i,ooo 
to 1,200 pounds, containing perhaps four heavy people, and 
this possibly down very steep hills. Special attention should 
always be given the tugs to see that they are, and remain, in 
front of the keepers on the shafts. 

The wheeler raust always start, stop and turn the cart, 
and the leader should only feel his traces when going up a 
declivity or in heavy going. If he does so at any other 
time it requires great nicety of driving to prevent his pull- 
ing the wheeler on to his head and knees, as the latter will 
always begin to hang back when he feels the cart drawn on 
to his withers. 

Once started, the wheeler should "follow the leader," 



TANDEM DRIVING 

be the latter's movements what they will. It is far 
simpler to keep after him, even if he go round and 
round, than to get things all tangled up by trying to 
keep the wheel-horse straight while yoiir leader looks 
you in the face. Your horses are easiest kept in line 
by taking back or letting out the two reins which lie 
together between the first and second fingers, these being 
the off-lead rein and the near-wheel rein. If a cranky leader 
comes round, a blow of the double- thong across the face may 
send him straight again, but if not, drive roiuid after him and 
so waltz about until he proceeds. 

Two high-couraged and light-mouthed nags as a tandem 
will afford ample scope for the driving abilities of even the 
most expert, and the leader must be handled with the greatest 
delicacy, especially at starting, or he may rear, plunge, throw 
himself and make an awful mess of it. The bitting of such 
horses must be especially interdependent, so to speak, or no 
harmony can prevail. 

The groom never occupies the rear seat of a dog-cart 
unless the driver has a companion on the seat beside, and, 
when standing, his place is just in front of the leader, not 
touching him, unless restive, when he grasps both reins, or, 
perhaps preferably, the nose-band. When left alone to hold 
them, his place is off side at the wheeler's head, his left hand 
on his reins and his right on those of the leader. A servant 
should always be smart in getting up and down, and nothing 
looks worse than to see him clambering cltimsily about, 
always tardy both at start and halt; or to notice the master 
anxiously glancing behind to see that the man has not been 
outpaced and lost. Tailboards are always kept up when 
but two occupy the vehicle. 

Prizes have been offered at many American shows — - 



DRIVING 

although very properly not of recent years — for "park 
tandems" (whatever they may be), and for the sake of pre- 
serving a curious anomaly their methods of appointment 
appear under the chapter on appointments. The exhibits 
of "hunting tandems" which we have quite frequently 
witnessed at the same exhibitions have proved interesting, 
and more like the " real thing " probably than any other form 
of the arrangement, being, as they probably are, the originals 
of the custom. Still, for all practical purposes, no more 
awkward fashion of working two horses can be designed, and 
the steady decrease in its popularity proves that public 
opinion coincides with that of the writer. 

A few preliminary trials with a four-in-hand will prove 
of much value to any one who would essay the tandem. A 
four keep each other straight, and any bungling with the 
reins which the beginner is sure to make will not so readily 
upset the former as the latter, while the points and loopings 
are more easily made with a four, because the reins are more 
widely separated and do not come "home to the hand" so 
close together. Shorter loops will also generally answer 
better, and even if a very acute angle must be turned, a small 
loop, quickly enlarged by again taking up extra rein, brings 
gentler effect than one large point made at once. 



83 



CHAPTER X 

FOUR-IN-HAND DRIVING 

The chief difference between tandem and four-in-hand 
driving is that the former looks easier than it is, and the 
latter appears more difficult than experiment will prove it. 
Your tandem leader is strictly " on his own " at any and all 
times, but four horses combine to keep each other straight, 
or, at least, do not unite to get their master into trouble. 
Oceans of ink and volumes of space have been consinned in 
advice as to the ways and means of pursuing this most 
fascinating pastime, and many have been the essentials 
insisted upon for satisfactory and workmanlike performance. 
The sine qua non, however, of comfortable and businesslike 
arrangement of four horses in a team is compactness — they 
must be as near to each other and to their work, both lati- 
tudinally and longitudinally, as it is possible to get them, 
without causing collision with toe-board, splinter-bars or 
pole-end in the one case, and actual jostling in the other. It 
is very common to find many teams labouring (not merely 
working) much too far from their points of draft, and so 
loosely coupled and poled-up that, like ancient mariners, they 
"looked east, they looked west" in their peregrinations 
along the high road. 

Given the essentials of vehicle, horses and harness, let 
us put the lot together in a businesslike and progressive 
manner, and then get up and drive them — for, after all, the 
"putting-to" is so essentially a component part of the feat 
of driving four that it is a moiety of the undertaking, and a 

83 



DRIVING 

most important one. Assuming that the coach is ready on 
the carriage-house floor, or, as is safer, from the less chance 
it affords of horses suddenly starting before they are asked, 
in the yard or street outside; that the horses are harnessed, 
as described in other chapters, we are ready to "put to," 
and this cannot well be properly done by less than three men 
— as yourself and two grooms, for we assume that, for the 
sake of practice, you will take an active hand in the proceed- 
ing. Bring on your wheelers then, and lead each up on his 
proper side of the pole, not, as is so often done, by leading 
him straight at the pole-head, and then by a more or less 
sudden twist and smack on the ribs, sidling him into his place, 
but by bringing them up to it diagonally, so that when their 
heads are in the proper place, and their shoulders close against 
the pole, a side-step behind puts them parallel with it and 
in place. 

Your horses should not be so far forward that you must 
back them to slip the trace ends or loops over the roller- 
bolts, but so that your pole-chain hook will catch into, or 
go a few links through, the kidney-link ring, which can be 
adjusted after the traces are in place (always putting on 
the outside one first to prevent the animal's turning round 
and perhaps breaking something) ; a step forward then allows 
you to pole them up to the proper link, which should always 
be such as to leave the chains rather loose, the hook going 
through the link from above downward in order to avoid any 
danger of catching a curb-chain or bridle or bit on it. Your 
wheelers are now to be coupled, and the nigh rein thrown 
across the off horse's back, when the two reins are united, 
and hung temporarily over the off terret. Bring your 
leaders into place in the same way, couple them, and 
put on their traces, preferably crossed on the inside, each 

84 



FOUR-IN-HAND DRIVING 

horse working off his mate's bar with that trace. This 
greatly evens the working of a team, as any plowman or 
teamster will tell you, and nothing so completely and simply 
brings up a slug with a free-going mate, as he punishes himself 
by hanging back. You may lap them if you choose; or 
allow each horse to work off his own bar, but the first is so 
much the better in every practical way that it is a wonder 
that it is not universal. Its only drawback is that, when 
galloping down grade, practically never done nowadays, or 
if the leaders are not in their collars, the bars get to swing- 
ing and tilting in rather an unsightly fashion. However, 
this is no detriment to utility, and how often does one gallop ? 
or how far ? The leader's reins are now passed — some people 
pass them before attaching the traces, but no advantage 
seems to accrue from the practice; on the contrary, the 
writer has had a wheeler's bridle pulled off because a plunging 
leader bested his groom and, getting away, whipped his rein 
through the head-terret (where it chanced to be for that 
particular horse) until its tangled end caught and carried 
everything with it. Passing through the wheelers' bridles 
and pad-terrets, they are buckled, and the two sets of reins 
smoothly tucked under the off horse's trace-bearer, from 
before back, are in readiness for your hand to pull out 
and arrange. 

If bearing-reins are used, these should have been drawn 
forward between the horses' ears and down their foreheads, 
ready to be put on the water-hooks just before starting, or 
after, if they are nervous. All bearing-reins should be easy 
at starting, and until neck-muscles are warmed, and able to 
yield without pain or'discomfort. After ten minutes' driving 
you may have the animals " borne up " as far as you incon- 
siderately elect, and they will submit quietly. Severe check- 

8s 



DRIVING 

ing before starting is the direct cause of much bad behaviour, 
balking, rearing and plunging — or worse. 

Rein-ends will be much more satisfactory if arranged 
with small snap-hooks on the off sides and little rings on the 
near. These may be as stout as you please, and are connected 
or unfastened instantly — an especially great convenience in 
road- coaching when coming to a change. There is no special 
reason for the buckle-and-billet ends to all driving-reins. 
Coupling-reins should be short, on the leaders, though those 
at wheel should come to within a few inches of your hands, 
thus enabling you to alter their couplings yourself from the 
box. Too long lead-couplings are dangerous because they 
may get under a leader's tail and cause a kicking match or a 
smash. It is also a good plan to have the lead-terrets, or the 
coupling-buckles, contrived in such a way that the latter 
cannot slip through the former if a horse hangs back, or 
jumps ahead. Of course, if the buckle is larger than the 
terret no complication can ensue, but this necessitates buckles 
of two sizes, as that at the bit-end must go easily through all 
such rings. A stop of heavy leather, metal or wood may be 
affixed across the rein just in front of the coupling-buckle, 
which answers well, and need not be conspicuous. 

Reins themselves are to be always kept very pliable, 
and not too thin or narrow. If made in this way they are 
pretty playthings with which to drive a perfectly mouthed 
team, and to perform all sorts of fancy work in the way of 
loopings, but they are neither serviceable, safe nor workman- 
like. Their width must depend upon the length of the 
fingers and will vary from an inch upward. 

Wheelers' throat-latches must be quite tight, if bearing- 
reins are not used, or the bridles may be pulled off by a 
fractious leader, or rubbed off; and if metal brow-bands are 



FOUR-IN-HAND DRIVING 

used they must fit, and not be too long, so as to allow the bridle 
to drop awkwardly back upon the wheeler's cheeks. TC' 
insure a good and permanent flare to the blinkers, thereby 
rendering them much cooler and more comfortable, the 
writer, instead of connecting their supports to the top of the 
bridle, sews a small loop on the lower edge of the brow-band 
and carries a stiff roimd strap from one blinker-tip to the 
other through this loop. This has afforded much satisfaction, 
and insures tmiform appearance and freer vision to the bridles 
of all the team. 

Your team being ready, it is time, after a last look over 
all details, to proceed with the embarkation and to take 
your place upon the quarterdeck. Taking your reins from 
their resting-place in the trace-bearer of the off horse, your 
whip, ready thonged, from its haven across the wheelers' 
backs (which is a dangerous resting place for it, as the dropping 
of the thong may startle the nigh horse), or over the toe- 
board (which is much better), you place your reins in the 
left hand according to any of the systems which you may 
fancy, described in the chapter on holding them, and, after 
drawing each back until you just lightly touch your horses' 
mouths, you shift them all in that order to the right hand, 
which also holds the whip, well elevated, that it may not 
touch the wheel-horses, and throwing the pendent ends 
over your right forearm, you proceed to mount to the box, 
using your free left hand to assist. Left foot to hub, right 
to roller-bolt, left to step and right to toe-board is your 
mode of upward progression, the last movement landing you 
upon that elevation ready to sink on to your driving-cushion. 
There are two methods of handling the reins during this 
ascent: One, starting with them as you have drawn them 
to you (the off-side reins being the shortest), and allowing 

87 



DRIVING 

these to gradually slide through the fingers until, on reaching 
the box, they are all equal (this is, perhaps, the better style, 
as by it you retain control of your horses at all stages). By 
the other, while the reins are in the left hand, you lay hold 
of the two ofif-side reins in the right, and pull them through 
the fingers of the left until the off-side wheel coupling-buckle is 
opposite that of the near-side. Thus all reins are the same 
length when the toe-board is reached, but at no other time; 
and should careless grooms or restive horses cause trouble, 
you are quite powerless to assist the one or to restrain 
the other. 

Having successfully proceeded thus far, sit down as 
nature meant you should, neither placing your feet far in 
advance, as though ready to fend off a kick from the wheeler 
(thereby sitting upon the small of your back and not as you 
were built to do), or assuming the grotesque perch like a 
dicky-bird on a limb, so much affected by the modem school, 
and which has been discussed in "Driving for Novices." 
In medias res you will be safer and more graceful, sitting 
squarely down, and yet upright and with hollowed back, 
to bring about that elastic and delicate feel which has in 
driving so much to do with results. If the toes are just at 
the beginning of the elevation of the toe-board, the knees 
will be moderately bent, the posture secure, and the practical 
and picturesque results both safely attained. 

The start will depend upon circumstances. All being 
demure and temperate before the vehicle, your wheelers 
start the coach, and your leaders, just clear of the bars, move 
smoothly off at your " Stand aside ! " to the grooms, and the 
corresponding indescribable and instinctive telegraphic inti- 
mation through the reins that motion is intended. It is 
extraordinary to witness this sympathy between a "good 



FOUR-IN-HAND DRIVING 

man " and a well-bitted horse or team. Without word or 
apparent motion on the driver's part suddenly the animals 
collect themselves and move away — and this when accom- 
plished regtilarly and with all kinds of strange horses as some 
men can do it is the acme of horsemanship. The same horses 
are very different on different days, and the four equine 
tempers are rarely exactly the same, any more than is the 
one masculine ! Therefore, as Pooh Bah says in " The 
Mikado," " Bless you, it all depends!" and if one wheeler flies 
back it is better to let your lead-reins slide a bit instantly 
that the leaders may take the draft; or swing the whole 
team (or the wheelers at all events) a step or so in his direc- 
tion. If leaders are flighty one must instantly determine 
what expedient will "make the penalty fit the crime" and 
forthwith put it to use, even if it consist in ramming them with 
the crab ! To start, one must insure motion, and when all is 
said and done, that is what we are trying to bring about, so 
that cut-and-dried rules-of-thimib are of little value, and 
" I will ! " must wait upon " Am I able ? " 

Grooms must be sharp, and let go at once when the 
familiar jerk of the head is made or the " Stand aside ! " is 
spoken, but many a case of " hang up " or a determined 
jibbing-match is caused by their literal interpretation of 
the order; for the mere side-step is just the thing they 
should not do, but always go forward in view of their charges, 
for two or three steps ; not touching the reins, but conveying 
to the hesitating animal, if one there be, the moral effect of 
being led off. Not once in a thousand times is this capably 
performed, and not that one time will anything happen to 
retard progress, but the horses, instead of even possibly 
flying about, move cheerfully away, all in their places. This 
is one of the " unconsidered trifles " that make all the difference 

89 



DRIVING 

whether with one or four horses. One often hears the inquiry, 
" Can you hold a horse ? " to some loiinger, but never to the 
groom, " Do you know how to let go ? " 

Looping, "points," "opposition" and all the rest of the 
interesting manipulation incidental to four-in-hand driving 
is discussed at length in the chapter on holding the reins, and 
will not be argued here. 

Once under way, drive quietly for at least the first 
mile, unless your team is very green and headstrong, in 
which case let them go along, for the faster the pace the more 
freedom for individual peculiarities to reconcile themselves 
and the easier the task to all. Don't fight any of them, 
nor be in too great hurry to change bitting, coupling, etc. 
Perhaps they are right and will show you they are when 
they settle. Let them teach you if they can, nor be above 
such instruction. 

A down grade, if of moderate nature, rarely demands 
shortening back of your leaders, for as the wheelers take the 
coach on the pole-chains, their position nearer the coach 
will, if your lead-reins do not slip, take the whole team back 
in following the wheelers' mouths and the result be just 
right — which surely can't be improved upon ! Whatever 
you do, always go quietly over the brow of a declivity and 
never shift your reins on the down grade — but always have 
them arranged as you mean they shall be for the descent. 
A horse may stumble or a rein twist at the critical moment 
when your hand, or hands, are relaxed; away goes a rein 
(and the coach), and there is a regular mess in a moment. 

If your hand and arm begin to tire and cramp, pull the 
team up, and do it quickly. You can never tell how far this 
may progress, and it will sometimes reach the lengths when 
yotir powerless left opens supinely and lets go of everything.. 



FOUR-IN-HAND DRIVING 

Never turn a comer with the leaders in the collars, for 
they then have perfect command and may land you in the 
drug-store or the grocer's shop in a jiffy. 

Keep all hands working evenly up to their bits (not 
necessarily traces) all the time, unless the trip is very long, 
and one or more hold out signals of great fatigue. Allow 
such a one to "drop out of his collar" for a few yards, and 
run free to get a few long breaths. If you ever rowed in a 
race you will remember the enormous relief when the cox- 
swain stmg out, "Hold her starboard!" and as you whirled 
round the buoy, merely holding water, how sweet those 
four or five big gulps were and how your strength was almost 
instantly renewed. 



91 



CHAPTER XI 

MANNERS AND METHODS OF HOLDING REINS : SINGLE, 

DOUBLE, TANDEM, FOUR- AND SIX-IN-HAND ; HANDLING 

THE WHIP, ETC. 

In driving one or a pair the accepted method of holding 
the reins is to bring the near rein over the first finger of 
the left hand, the off between the second and third fingers, 
the reins dropping thence through the hand and being confined 
by firmly closing it, and by shutting the thumb closely down 
upon the near rein and dexter finger. Although this is the 
" correct " manner, it will be found in practice that the reins 
are chiefly held between the three lower fingers and the palm, 
and that the pressure of the thumb and full hand is rarely 
firm. This relieves the strain on wrist, forearm and hand 
muscles, which the tightly closed fist renders finally almost 
paralysing — absolutely so, in fact, if the grasp is not eased 
or relaxed at intervals. The truth is that the reins are never 
held as tightly nor as immovably as one would believe from 
those who write on driving, but the hand is in a position when 
occasion arises to instantly close upon them and to hold 
them firm. The same thing applies to a seat in the saddle, 
which is never retained by the tremendous grasp of thigh 
and knee, which popular opinion assumes, but by having 
them in such a position that the mere tightening of the 
muscles preserves safely the seat. Thus the votaries of 
riding by balance are as much in the right as the advocates 
of riding by grip. 

In the handling of road-horses and trotters the reins are 



DRIVING 

held in a variety of ways ; that generally used being to carry the 
off rein over the first finger and through the full hand ; the 
near coming outside the little finger, through the full hand and 
over the thumb. This method allows of doing quite a lot 
of driving and changing direction by merely turning the 
wrist and hand either way. The off rein is readily grasped 
when necessary by the right hand, and comes through it 
outside the little finger and over the thumb, etc., as when 
placed in the left, or is seized in any other handy manner. 

A pair of roadsters, coupled as they are with the heads 
far apart and equipped with plain snaffle-bits, rarely drive 
evenly and pleasantly if the reins are held in one hand, and 
two are nearly always needful for comfort to both driver and 
animals. 

In "heavy-harness" driving the right hand is carried 
near to the left, that it may be instantly available, and is 
held generally directly over the left wrist or base of the left 
thumb, both hands being low, about opposite the middle 
buttons of the coat, and the arms falling easily close to the 
sides, the left wrist slightly bent outward to give lightness 
to the " feel " of the hand. Imitators of show-ring drivers 
have lately introduced the fashion — and a good and sensible 
one it is — of holding a rein in each hand; and this is done so 
inconspicuously, and they are held so close to the body that 
the detail is not generally noticeable. The style is worthy 
of all praise, as assisting greatly in the manipulation of the 
horse's mouth and tending to increase the delicacy of touch 
and handling in the driver. Otherwise the right hand may 
rest easily upon the right rein, the two hands separated by a 
few inches, and in turning to the right a simple widening of 
the space by sliding the right hand along the reins proves 
sufficient to accomplish the purpose. 





I. MAKING RIGHT POINT OVER FORE- 
FINGER; OVERHAND CLUTCH; ONE OR 
A PAIR. 



2. MAKING LEFT POINT; OVERHAND 
CLUTCH; ONE OR A PAIR 





3 CLUTCH WITH THREE 
FINGERS 



4. ROAD DRIVING. FULL HAND 

CLUTCH ; EITHER REIN READILY SHORT- 
ENED BY SEIZING WITH THUMB AND 
FOREFINGER OF OTHER HAND AND 
SLIDING RELIEVED HAND FORWARD. 



HOLDING REINS 

With perfectly bitted animals the right hand is rarely 
actually needed except in making right angles and in pulling 
up, and it is quite possible to navigate the intricacies of 
ordinary traffic by merely turning the hand and wrist as 
occasion arises and by carrying the forearm to right and left. 
Perfectly mouthed horses are very rare, however, and the 
average animal, or pair, will in most cases require two hands 
for complete control. 

Loops or "points" may be used in driving one or a pair 
as well as in handling four, etc., and it affords good practise 
to use them — renders their application in all cases mechanical 
and cultivates the eye so that the taking up by the right hand 
of the rein for the loop or " point " to describe a given curve 
becomes almost automatic, and the requisite length is uncon- 
sciously determined. The manner of doing this is described 
further on. 

All loops or "points" should be taken up with the three 
lower fingers of the right hand. Many drivers use the first 
and second fingers to effect this, but the "overhand" manner 
of "going after" your loop or "point" is smarter and more 
effective. To effect this the back of the right hand is turned 
up and the three lower fingers grasp the rein between 
their tips and their lower portions (above the palm). The 
rein is then drawn back and looped upon or between the 
proper fingers. The off rein is grasped in the right hand in 
the same way, and never, in driving two-handed, held between 
the thumb and dexter finger or the first and second fingers, 
as frequently done. This is the principal difference between 
the "underhand" and "overhand" manipulation of the 
reins and affords a better "play" of the fingers in addition 
to the flexions of the wrist — which, by the way, is 
always to be held bent toward the body at the joint 



DRIVING 

(this applies to both wrists) — that greater flexibility may- 
be secured. 

Reins are always to be pushed back through the left 
hand — never pulled from behind, as to pull them the left 
arm must, however slightly, give and go forward, thus losing 
or changing the hold upon the horse's mouth. The right 
hand drops upon the reins a little in advance of the left, 
seizes them and, the left fingers relaxing, the right slides 
them back or the left slides up to the right — in no case is the 
left ever placed in advance. The stop is effected in the 
same way, and the hands shotild be carried straight back, 
and not, as taught by some instructors, raised (as to the left) 
toward the chin after the right has been placed upon the reins. 
This " flash pull-up " may answer with very light-mouthed 
or sharply bitted horses, but cannot be used with all and 
sundry — and he who would really drive must be prepared 
for all sorts of unexpected resistance and ready to handle 
deftly the roughest or the most gentle. Nor is this chin- 
touching fashion more graceful than effective, for nine times 
out of ten it will be found that when your horse or team is 
stopped by this method it is left with slack traces so near 
the vehicle that for ordinary precaution's sake one has to 
slide up the left hand and shorten the reins in order to retain 
any communication with the mouth. Hence the style is not 
practical — none is that is not useful and available under any 
and all circumstances — and it is valuable only as a trade- 
mark of the pupils of one or two instructors. 

There are several methods of holding the reins in tandem 
and four-horse driving, and all have their merits and demerits. 

They will all be described here, and the accompanying 
plates illustrate wherein they differ and how they act. It 
will be noticed that in turning certain styles afford scope for 

06 




I. DRIVING ROADSTER, FULL-HAND 
CLUTCH. OFF REIN ON TOP, NEAR REIN 
BELOW: AFFORDS WIDE CONTROL OF 
DIRECTION BY TWISTING HAND, WRIST, 
OR BOTH. 



2, MAKING LEFT POINT; FINGER 
CLUTCH; ONE OR A PAIR. 



^-d 



3. PULL-UP OR SHORTENING CLUTCH , 
ONE OR A PAIR. 



4. DRIVING ROADSTER; USUAL STYLE, 
BUT UNSATISFACTORY BECAUSE THE 
TWO-HANDED CLUTCH, WHICH AFFORDS 
CONTROL AT SPEED. IS NOT EASILY 
MADE. 



HOLDING REINS 

wider angles (and semicircles), by the mere twisting of the 
wrist and by carrying the arm down beside the hip or across, 
than others. Whether these are the more practical styles is 
left for every reader to determine for himself ; but it is urgently 
recommended that experiment be made with them all, and 
that no one's dictum, pro or con, be accepted imquestioned. 
The usual " pointings " or loopings are possible and practical 
with each, as the photographs show. 

Nothing will be said here of "opposition" looping, 
because with the average horse or team this proceeding is 
not only useless but dangerous, in that it is extremely 
imtrustworthy, especially with rough, hard-mouthed horses, 
which defy it, or with those driven much at wheel, which 
grow very ctinning and take liberties with curbstones, lamp- 
posts and trees at tmexpected moments. As a "freak 
fashion "it is well enough to play with and, as all practice is 
useful, not to be despised; it may be essayed, but necessary 
■ — never ! You may " oppose " round thumb, rotind wrist, 
round your box-seats off ear or his neck if you like, but never 
depend upon it, and as even its most steadfast adherents do, 
always forsake it utterly in times of emergency and peril. 
The right hand on the appropriate rein, or the double- thong 
on the proper shoulder make a good enough " opposition " 
for the ordinary coachman; even the right foot comes in 
handy at times if you drive all kinds and " take 'em as they 
come !" This diatribe against " opposition " does not at all 
decry the normal fashion of carrying the forearm across the 
body or dropping it beside the thigh (see photograph) — the 
only objection to the latter maneuver being that, if a leader 
prove suddenly recalcitrant your hands must travel quite a 
distance to "get together," and meanwhile much may happen 
— for the fascination about driving tandem or four (and 



DRIVING 

especially tandem ! especially tandem !) is that " things " are 
botuid to " happen," nor are you usually served with a thirty- 
day preliminary notice ! 

System i : By the accepted fashion of holding four 
reins the near lead passes over the left forefinger ; the off lead 
between the first and second finger, above the near wheel, 
which, going between the same two fingers, lies under the off 
lead; the off wheel going between the second and third; all 
passing through the full hand and being most closely confined 
by the grasp of the three lower fingers. The advantages of 
the system are that either pair may, by lifting the reins with 
the right hand and drawing them to you, be taken back 
easily; and by lengthening or shortening the off and 
near reins lying together between the first and second 
finger, the team may be easily kept in line and travel- 
ling straight. 

System 2 : In this fashion the near lead comes in over 
the first finger; the two wheel-horses (near wheel on top) 
lie together between the first and second fingers, and the 
off lead between the second and third, all falling thence as 
usual. The benefits derived from this fashion are that the 
lead-reins being widely separated, considerable curves may 
be made by carrying the forearm down to the hip or across, 
without looping or touching the reins; that as the off-lead 
rein crosses the others near the toe-board a twist of the wrist 
so binds them that much less effort is required in holding 
a fresh team or a horse that pulls ; and the off- and near-side 
reins separate readily if two hands are necessary, as with 
rough teams they occasionally are. 

System 3: By this the two wheel-reins are separated 
by the second finger and the nigh lead comes in as usual 
over the index finger, the off lead from outside the little 



^1 




I. SECOMD METHOD OF HOLDIMC 
^EIXS. NEAR LEAD OVER FIRST 
'IXGER. NEAR WHEEL AND OFF WHEEL 
JETWEEN FIRST A\D SECOND FIXGERS 
NEAR REIN ON TOP); OFF-LEAD 
JETWEEN SECOND AND THIRD FINGERS. 
VLL P(JINTS, ETC., MADE AS USUAL. 



2. SECO.Wn METHOD. LEFT 
RIGHT OPPOSITION 




3. FOUR-IN-HAND. RIGHT POINT 
LEFT OPPOSITION BY LOOPING BE- 
TWEEN FINGERS. 



4. FOUR-IN-HAND. LEFT POINT, 
RIGHT OPPOSITION BETWEEN FINGERS. 



HOLDING REINS 

finger, through the palm and over the thumb ; thus separating 
the leaders' reins even more widely and making curves — 
even a figure-of-eight — possible, unassisted by the right. 

System 4: This contemplates the holding of a rein 
between each finger, and has no advantages to recommend it 
that the writer is acquainted with. 

It is said that in those " good old times," of which we hear 
so much, the wheel-reins were just long enough to reach the 
driver's hand, and that they came in over the first finger, 
outside the little finger and through the palm of the hand, so 
that by opening the palm and sliding it either way an " opposi- 
tion " could be developed. However, as in those days turns 
were few and mouths probably bad, as " cattle " were dull 
and underbred, it is highly probable that any fashion which 
afforded a good, solid grasp of the reins was to be preferred ; 
the only impending calamity being that if a wheel-horse fell 
the coachee might forthwith be jerked off his box ! 

The Austrians have a way of buckling the lead- and wheel- 
reins together so that only one rein comes home to each of 
the driver's hands; the team being "put together" by ascer- 
taining the length of reins which will allow all the horses to 
go up into their collars. All four are driven "in" them at 
all times, save down hill, when this arrangement takes them 
all back alike, and as the wheelers tighten the pole-straps 
the leaders slacken their traces, and vice versa, all turns 
being made, as it were, broadside on and not in angles. This 
appears a crude arrangement at best; but these drivers go a 
tremendous pace, hands widely extended and separated, 
whip and voice in active use — a style certainly not graceful 
but effective from the "git thar" standpoint. 

In driving tandem the same arrangement of the reins 
is used as in driving four. 

99 

L.ofC. 



DRIVING 

In driving six, one more finger is called into use, and 
as the left arm is sure to become fatigued even by the mere 
weight of the reins, the second system will be found very 
useful, as it not only widely separates the leaders but allows 
of the off reins being readily shifted into the right hand, as 
comfort and occasion require. 

Elevation is absolutely essential to the satisfactory 
driving of a team or tandem, and the box or seat should be as 
much over the horses as possible. For this reason a coach is 
far easier to drive from than a brake, as the angle at which 
the reins run is much more acute. The mere weight of the 
reins in driving from a brake is burdensome after a few miles 
have been covered. 

Even if turning at a very sharp angle it will be found 
best to make a rather small " point " of the lead- reins at first, 
and to repeat this as the leaders answer, rather than to 
awkwardly reach out for perhaps a twenty-four-inch loop all at 
one motion; besides which, if all the reins are equally tight, 
the leaders' mouths are violently assailed, and the sudden 
demand upon them causes confusion and possibly rebellion. 
Usually one can " give the office " by a turn of the wrist the 
instant before the " point " is made, which is warning enough 
to well-trained horses of. what is to follow. 

"Points" for the leaders may both be made over the 
first finger of the left hand and confined by the thumb, or the 
off rein may be looped between the first and second fingers, 
the body of the reins being sufficiently strongly held by the 
three lower fingers. "Opposition" in the same way may 
be caught up between the appropriate fingers, although 
in the case of the near-wheel horse this loop will be gener- 
ally confined by the upper and not the lower joints 
of the fingers. 




I. SIX-IN-HAND. LEFT TURN, BOTH 
POINTS TAKEN AT SAME CLUTCH, OPPOSI- 
TION" BY RIGHT HAND. 




2. SIX-IN-HAND, RIGHT TURN. BOTH 
POINTS TAKEN AT SAME CLUTCH; LEFT 
OPPOSITION BY RIGHT HAND. 



3. SIX-IN-HAND, SLACKENING PACE OR 
PREPARING TO PULL UP, LEFT HAND 
ABOUT TO SLIDE FORWARD TO RIGHT. 



HOLDING REINS 

Practise will make all these varying maneuvers entirely 
mechanical and independent of the eye as far as arrangement 
is concerned. As the occasion arises, when expert, the eye 
instantly calculates the degree of the curve necessary to be 
made, and the hand almost automatically seizes the proper 
rein in just the right place, increasing the length taken up 
if result proves the first calculation inadequate or if the 
angle to be made is very sharp. Driving figures-of-eight or 
similar proceedings is grand practise; as it also is to have a 
friend beside you who will repeatedly and unexpectedly indi- 
cate all sorts of maneuvers which must be accomplished at the 
word. Driving through the city will furnish splendid oppor- 
tunity to learn to gauge your own pace and that of other 
vehicles, particularly if you do not use the horn too much, 
so that every one gives you ample room; and it cultivates 
a capital eye for distance and direction, besides tending to 
increase coolness and presence of mind — two of the chief 
advantages to be gained from this amusement. 

Full control of the whip should be acquired before one 
begins to drive at all, especially in four-in-hand and tandem 
work, and a coachman should be able to hit any horse, off 
side or near, within a foot of any spot at which he aims. 
While the leaders are generally touched up under the bars 
it is open to argument whether this system is always the best, 
since quite frequently a fresh or raw horse may " cross- 
counter" the blow and a kicking scrape may be provoked. 
Wheelers should always be struck in front of the pad, down 
the shoulders or over the ears if attempting to kick. 

The short-lashed whip for single- and pair-horse driving 
should always be held near the ferrule, about ten inches from 
the butt or wherever it balances best. The blow is never 
a "flick," as if one were trying to crack it, but a drawing 



DRIVING 

stroke before or just behind the pad ; or if the animal is sluggish 
a sharp blow or two under the thigh, with a jerk of the wrist 
just before the point lands will punish severely. Constant 
tap-tapping will make a loafer of any horse ; the implement 
when used should be applied smartly that the horse may 
keep in mind the fact that instant response is expected and 
may always respond promptly to even the mildest touch. 
In runabouts and road-wagons of all sorts, as being American 
vehicles, correctness of detail would appear to render com- 
pulsory the use of the straight whip. 

The four-in-hand whip should be light and should 
balance well, or it is very tiring to the right wrist, and nothing 
is gained by mere weight of stick or thong. Double-thonged, 
it is a tremendously punishing weapon, and applied to a 
refractory wheeler under the thigh with a quick wrist- jerk 
at landing, it fairly seems to lift the culprit off the ground. 

One should be able to catch the thong even with the 
eyes shut, and to do it every time ; both over the head, which 
is rather a useless fashion, as it takes the hand momentarily 
too far away from the reins, and is, if the thong be missed, 
fatal to the head gear of passengers ; or off to the right side 
which is neater and quieter. A mere turn of the wrist is 
enough, and the novice should never watch the lash or he is 
almost sure to meet it with the stick and to " chop " into the 
approaching thong. Make as if to throw the whip away to 
the right when held diagonally across the body, with an 
upward twist of the wrist like a reverse letter S; stop your 
wrist as the stick points diagonally to the right and the 
thong will fall into its place, a slight forward motion of the 
wrist, if the wind is in your face, landing the wraps of the 
thong well forward toward the quill. Two or three swings 
of the full thong the reverse way before catching will put 




I. FOUR-IN-HAND, DIAGONAL TO LEFT 
BY DROPPING HAND TO THIGH. SAME 
WITH ONE OR A PAIR. 



2 FOUR-IN-HAND PULL-UP. (N.B.— POS- 
SIBLE ONLY WITH LIGHT-MOUTHED 
HORSES.) 



^ 

b 


E 




}. FOUR-IN-HAND. DIAGONAL TO 
RIGHT BY DROPPING HAND TO THIGH. 



4. RIGHT POINT BETWEEN 
AVD SECOND FINGERS. 



HOLDING REINS 

the same number of wraps around the stick just at your 
knuckles, and this twist in the lash will make it " catch and 
keep" well, while the thong itself becomes more formidable 
by crossing itself just at the point where you wish to use it 
on your wheel-horses. Once caught, the fingers of the right 
hand take up the surplus thong, remove the reverse coils 
at the ferrule and draw the thong down snugly, either straight 
or with a few turns the other way; the left thumb and fore- 
finger holding the stick meanwhile. 

To hit your leaders effectively consider the wmd-resistance, 
and when you throw your thong give it time to spin fully 
out before putting into it any twist or taking an exact aim. 
If a horse needs hitting at all, it is better to hit him two or 
three times, with perhaps increasing severity if the first 
blow is not answered, the thong being recovered by a jerk of 
the wrist, which brings it across the chest, or exactly back to 
the fingers when expert; or, if the nigh leader is aimed at, 
the thong may be suffered to drop, the stick being carried 
across the body and the trailing lash then jerked back to the 
hand. This is not necessary and always soils the thong. If 
the double-thong or the straight- thong catch in the harness, 
as it frequently will in wet weather, give it a chance to shake 
loose and do not haul at it, or you may break something. 

Hitting the off leader is easy ; striking the near is rather 
hard (at least without including in the castigation the near 
wheeler) ; but reaching the near leader from the off side 
without landing on any other horse in the team is quite a 
scientific operation, and best not essayed if any of the horses 
are nervous or fretful. It is a mere tour de force at best and 
not an essential accomplishment. 

Catching a reverse thong is often useful when under 
trees or other obstructions, and this is done by simply chopping 



DRIVING 

down into the thong as it hangs. The result and effect are 
precisely the same, and it is to all intents and purposes just 
as practical as the accepted fashion, only not quite so showy. 
The only difference is that, of course, the thong unwinds the 
opposite way. 

For comfort in using and endurance in keeping the thong 
should be frequently wiped down with crown soap or some simi- 
lar material, and it should be as pliant as possible throughout 
its entire length. The quill and its splicings should be kept 
in the best order, and the shape of the whole maintained by 
careful hanging when not in use. Knots in the stick where 
the double-thong lies are of no special value as keepers if 
the thong is thoroughly pliant, but on the contrary such 
excrescences have always a tendency to weaken the wood. 





I. SHORTENING 
SLIDING UP 



REINS; LEFT HAND 



2 LEFT POINT (LOOP PARTLY SHOWX). 
RIGHT OPPOSITION OVER THUMB. 





3. MAKING LEFT POINT, OVERHAND 
CLUTCH. 



4, SHORTENING REINS OR PULL-UP 
CLUTCH; LEFT HAND SLIDING FOR- 
WARD TO RIGHT 



CHAPTER XII 

DRIVING FOR LADIES 

The equestrian sports of driving and riding have attained 
popularity which is not confined to the sterner sex, and they 
number among their most ardent devotees and scientific 
exponents not a few of the gentler sex. Properly safe- 
guarded and within reasonable limits, there can exist no 
reason why these amusements in all their stages of develop- 
ment should not be appropriate to and well within the pos- 
sibilities of any woman of average health, nerve and self- 
possession, and from childhood up parents, guardians and 
male relatives generally will do well to encourage her in the 
enterprise — not only as opening to her a wide field for personal 
pleasure and the possibility of affording it to others, but as 
enhancing her ability and inclination to take care of herself, 
to form habits of quick decision, and to assist in learning 
patience and the control of the temper. 

Safeguarded she must be, however, as well in practice as 
by precept, and as the first and most important step to this 
result she must be taught thoroughly every detail of harness 
and vehicle, their proper relation to each other and to the 
motive power, the horse; she must also be accompanied by 
a man — not a mere image in trousers, or boots and breeches, 
but one who in case of emergency knows what to do and 
how to do it. The unexpected is the only happening that 
is absolutely certain to eventuate, and neglect in these 
particulars has been the cause of more serious and fatal 
accidents than any other. Be her pride what it will, her 



DRIVING 

confidence what it may, her skill preeminent, she is fitted 
neither by garb, nature nor habit to act " at a pinch " as a 
man can, and on the heads of her wilfully negligent male 
relatives be it if she is sviffered to go unattended. Were 
the risk hers alone and individually, perhaps there would 
be little reason for interfering, especially if she were "free, 
white and twenty-one"; but the lives and limbs of others 
are worthy of consideration, and worse than ridiculous and 
ineffectual are excuses which are feebly offered for disasters 
which should have been foreseen and should, therefore, never 
have occurred. Helpless children not unusually form a por- 
tion of her accompaniment in her meanderings, and to 
these, even if not to their foolhardy elders, some measure 
of protection is due; or to the general public, to whom she 
may bring injury or death, if the worst happens and some 
ninaway or smash- up occurs. 

The average woman is not even taught how to dress 
suitably for such amusements, nor how to use the slight 
strength she has, nor compelled to develop still further the 
muscles involved. A woman's gloves are generally too tight, 
or, if they are of the liberal dimensions needful, they, by 
buttoning tightly at the wrist, are as cramping in effect as 
if they were small everywhere. Again, a woman is never 
taught to shut her hands tight and to keep them shut; and 
nine times out of ten she has no knowledge of how to handle 
her whip, but uses it with a " flick," or sort of snap, which old 
Billy, who has put up with feminine vagaries for years, may 
stoically tolerate, but which any strange or high-strung nag 
is not unlikely to resent by siimmarily kicking the outfit to 
bits and hurling her into the road. She is usually intolerant 
of the variation, in any steed, from ancient William's sedate 
and phlegmatic manners, and but too apt to attribute any 




A CONVENIENT CHAISE 




A LADV S I'HAKIOX 



DRIVING FOR LADIES 

tintoward occurrences to the horse's evil disposition and the 
machinations of the man who sold, let or lent him to her. 
It is perfectly true that the highways and byways are full 
of living demonstrations to the effect that horses are driven 
safely by women daily, perpetually and amid all kinds of 
varying and terrifying traffic, but these incidents must be 
classed with those marvels of nature with which Providence 
provides us glimpses on every hand, and are material addi- 
tions to those "seven wonders of the world" of which we 
have heard so much and seen so little. 

Were the average woman to drive all the year round, so 
that hand and nerve were always in training, and were she 
always able-bodied and athletically inclined, affairs would 
be different. The summer solstice, however, is the favourite 
period for this pastime, and then papa or brother Tom or 
other relative or friend commits himself to the hands of the 
private dealer or the public auctioneer and acquires, in 
exchange for satisfactory equivalent in the shekels of the 
realm, a steed "warranted" in every way and to whom the 
words of D. Harum, Esq., "A woman can drive him as 
well as a man," are glibly applied. This description the 
vender believes to be reliable, since the animal is all that in 
his hands, and the fact that he is going to prove utterly 
unmanageable and dangerous under Mary's intermittent 
guidance and discipline never enters his head; so that he is 
generally ashamed and dismayed when the disaster which 
she is allowed to court overtakes her. 

No woman can "afford" to keep a horse who cannot 
also afford a capable and presentable servant to attend her 
—that is, unless she possesses hordes of able-bodied and 
equally capable brothers who, brotherlike (?), are always 
delighted to dance attendance upon their sister. By " afford " 



DRIVING 

is not meant the pecuniary ability to purchase alone, but 
the avoidance of possible accidents carelessly tempted. 
Properly supervised and instructed, her possibilities are 
great, but not otherwise. 

Most women play the piano, and any one who has a 
delicate touch on that instrument is sure to handle the 
horse's mouth in the same way. The deftest touch can 
produce wondrous boomings from the base and prodigiously 
brilliant effects from the coruscations of rattling sharps and 
fiats. " Hands " on a horse's mouth in the same way are 
(or is) not that feeble manipulation which is so generally 
accepted as such, but that instinctive yielding and returning, 
pressing and loosening which may in time of need be hard, 
rough and compelling, yet still remains " hands " in their (or 
its) best development. A woman succeeds wonderfiilly 
with many headstrong horses in that she handles them in 
this way, and does not fight them and never provokes a 
quarrel as a man habitually does. Her sensibility and 
sympathy are her birthright, and her tendencies in these 
respects lead her to yield in many of the immaterial little 
points which make all the difference between harmony and 
discord in running the equine scale. 

While absolute safety, kindness and fearlessness are 
the first essentials for a woman's horse, they are not the 
only requisites. They, the mental, are important; but certain 
of the physical are no less so. Such a horse must arch well 
his neck (not for looks, but for comfort to the driver), thus 
yielding readily his head and mouth; and that mouth must 
be pliant and level. He must be sure-footed, for no woman 
can hold him up if he makes a really bad blunder (nor can 
a man, for that matter). He must be of moderate size, as 
suited more perfectly to the average lady's trap. He must 

io8 



DRIVING FOR LADIES 

be free and active, not a dull pig of a beast. He must "go 
where he looks, and look where he goes, " as the dealers say ; 
he must be of a dark colour, as not defiling a dainty toilet 
with his hairs and he must be at least fairly good looking 
and stylish. Whether there is one, two or four of him the 
same remarks apply to all, and generally his utility is in 
inverse ratio to his size. 

There is nothing unladylike in being able to put on and 
put together every part of the harness — on the contrary, 
one's proper pride should compel not only the acquisition, 
but frequent rehearsal, of this knowledge. You take interest 
in the fit of your gowns ; why not in the clothes of your horse ? 
Certainly, if you do not, you are never to be trusted for a 
moment alone. The process is neither complicated nor 
disagreeable, and if it is worth while to practise years to 
learn to play the piano, surely it is worth a few hours' 
investigation to understand the toilet of yoixr cob. 

Driving tandem and four-in-hand have never seemed 
quite appropriate for a lady's undertaking — unless she 
invariably has a man on the box beside her. Alone on the 
driver's seat with two grooms behind she is not to be easily 
succored if accident befall — and while horses may go all 
right for three hundred and sixty-four days, they may 
perpetrate any outrage on the next. A woman is not apt 
to give up if she finds herself overmatched until too late, 
when strength and presence of mind are both gone, and 
nowhere does this seem as suddenly or so completely to happen 
as on the box, nor is any sensation or realisation more wholly 
terrifying and disconcerting. Such a trifle may make all 
the trouble, it comes to a head so instantly — almost with- 
out warning — and is generally so serious when it occurs. 
An annoying fly, a tight back-strap or check, a touch of the 



DRIVING 

lead-bars, a suddenly tximed vehicle in front, any startling 
sound or sight — and the thing is not doing but done. Male 
relatives who allow this amusement unsafeguarded are either 
astoundingly confident in their horses and in the ability of 
the fair driver or culpably negligent of her life and of the 
lives of others. 



CHAPTER XIII 

BITS AND BITTING 

The matter of bitting the heavy-harness horse has not 
as yet in any country received the attention and the intelHgent 
consideration that is justly due so important a detail. More 
or less has been written concerning the manipulation of the 
saddle-horse and hunter, but in harness matters there is 
much to be discussed, and the proper adjustment of the bits, 
etc., is, in these days of forced and extravagant action, hurried 
education and heavy-handed drivers, an extremely delicate 
operation, and worthy all the strength of argtmient and 
observation we can bring to bear upon it. 

We are prone, when we undertake to " mouth " the 
heavy-harness horse, to at once " overbit " him, and to carry 
the process to a needlessly severe and even cruel extent. 
When we adopt in addition the modem and regrettable fad 
for severely gag-checking him, the ensuing discomfort and 
even agony to the poor brute may be approximately imagined. 
That horses balk, rear, kick and throw themselves both 
during this educational process and afterward as well, if 
occurrence awakens painful recollection, is little to be 
wondered at. 

Did you ever weigh a pair of ordinary driving-reins? 
Have you ever figured out the " foot-pounds, " to use a 
mechanical term, which the raere weight of the reins from 
your hands to your horse's jaw represents in pressure upon 
that most sensitive and delicately constructed surface ? Will 
you not go to the stable, open your favourite's mouth and 



DRIVING 

examine that marvellously constructed membrane, as thin 
and delicate as tissue-paper and full of the most sensitive 
nerves, upon which the bit rests, and the jaw-bone upon 
which the curb-chain falls, barely covered with the thinnest 
skin? Surely, afterward you can but take the deepest 
personal interest in the matter of comfortable and humane 
bitting, and certainly you will refrain from ever jerking a 
rein or even suddenly moving the bits lest you hurt a surface 
so delicate and cause pain to an animal so patient and so 
humbly anxious to please. 

No horse was ever bom a puller, and every such a one 
has been made and educated in his fault by ignorant or 
careless and cruel handling. Physical malformation — as 
narrow jaws, thick necks and heavy forehands — renders 
some animals less amenable to easy control than others and 
prevents the acquirement of the conventionally accepted 
arched neck and perpendicular face. Such horses can yield 
only in a slight measure, and persistence in attempting to 
force upon them the impossible can have but one result, 
and make them pullers, possibly of a desperate and scientific 
type. Attacked by the severe bit and tight chain in an 
increasingly severe manner, forced up to this torture by the 
whip in the mistaken attempt to make them bend them- 
selves, they quickly find that if they pull hard enough for 
a few moments the ligature of chain about the jaw will destroy 
all sensation, and they figure out that of the evils confronting 
them this is the least. Or they catch the arm of the bit 
with the lip or the nippers, and prevent thereby the chain 
from having its full effect (this, of course, cannot be done 
with the "elbow bit"). Persistent efforts to overcome their 
stubbornness (?) meet with scientific resistance, and finally 
one has an accomplished puller on hand, who can defy any 



BITS AND BITTING 

combination of appliances to make him drive comfortably, 
and who has acquired his proficiency through a thorough 
tutoring in the most appropriate methods of resisting control. 

That these results do not oftener obtain appears, on 
reflection, astounding, when one realises that we drive every 
height, weight and shape of heavy-harness horse in bits of 
one and the same pattern. Occasionally a " port " is made 
on the mouthpiece and the cheeks are varied in shape a 
trifle; the mouthpiece may be larger or smaller, and 
smooth upon both sides or only one, but with these immaterial 
variations every equine, from the eleven-hand pony to the 
seven teen -hand coach horse, is expected to go pleasantly, 
lightly and cheerfully in one and the same bit, and that, 
generally, too wide for his mouth, improperly placed and 
roughly handled ! Truly, we are fortunate in not receiving 
more generally the reprisals which are justly our due. 

The American light-harness horse has, as a rule, a 
wonderfully pliant and pleasant mouth, and carries 
himself like a gentleman at all paces and in all places. 
His manners and general docility and good temper are the 
marvel of all foreigners who come in contact with him, and 
have won for him the high esteem in which, world-wide, 
he is held to-day. To this result nothing has so successfully 
contributed as the intelligent and humane methods evolved 
by our trainers and handlers for bitting and mouthing the 
trotting-bred horse, and the success accruing is an eloquent 
tribute to their progressive and wide-awake systems. In 
heavy harness we use practically the very same bits which 
were in vogue a hundred years ago, and the entire harness, 
indeed, is virtually identical — yet we gravely discuss appoint- 
ments and develop overpowering fads in relation to it, 
endeavouring to faithfully reproduce the general effect of 



DRIVING 

equipages long ago in vogue, and while elaborately arguing 
pro and con, clips here and rivets there, buttons yonder 
and rosettes nearby, overlook entirely the vital defect in 
our " steering gear " by adhering to the same bits as our 
great-granddaddies used and abused. We demand electric 
machinery to handle the rudders of our vessels, yet steer 
our horses, so to speak, with a "jury-rig" bit! 

Visit a trotting-trainer's or colt-breaker's stable and you 
will find that he has bits in great variety; that he fits them 
carefully and snugly; that he anxiously experiments with 
each individual vmtil he learns just what suits him; that he 
forces his horse to keep his mouth closed and his tongue 
under the bit; that he can readily, and with one hand, drive 
any of his charges in a "figure eight" of small dimensions; 
that they back at a touch, stand at a word, and turn 
at a pressure very slightly given; that, in short, they are, and 
will remain while bitted as he bits them, pleasant, light- 
mouthed animals, a comfort to drive and a pleasure to own. 

His bits are all snaffles— various in form and attachments 
^— but units in that they are comfortable and attain their 
effects not by punishment, but by frustrating the various 
idiosyncrasies of their wearers. Jointed, straight, leather, 
rubber, pneumatic, chin-strapped, jaw-strapped, overchecked, 
side-checked, etc., in endless variety of combination, they 
effectually combat the vagaries of even the most persistent. 

Of all details of the heavy harness, the nose-band is the 
most important and the least considered. Intended as a 
most efficient aid to the handling of the animal, it has 
been allowed by the carelessness of the harness-maker and 
the ignorance of the amatetir owner and horse fancier to 
degenerate into a mere ornament, and, as usually supplied 
to-day, it is placed so high upon the nose that some of its 



BITS AND BITTING 

power is lost, and is so constructed that it can rarely be 
made, even after a liberal use of the harness-punch, to fit 
snugly and yet comfortably, or, when tightened, to fulfil its 
office of keeping the jaws closed. If we use this instrument 
at all we usually wait until the favilt has been committed. 
The horse has learned that by opening his mouth he may 
escape partly the effect of the bit, and an idea has been 
allowed to enter his brain which should never have found 
lodgment therein. From the very first every horse's mouth 
should be nose-banded, as should every colt's, and were this 
always done " tongue-loUers " and those which open the 
mouth widely would be unknown. We forget that the 
whole plan of horse education is based upon the principle 
of deceiving the horse as to his powers and ability to resist 
our demands upon him, and that results are in proportion 
to our skill in thus hoodwinking him by methods which we 
should actively resent in relation to ourselves. Thus, if an 
animal is never allowed to open his mouth when bridled, it 
will never occur to him to do so— just as your properly 
halter-broken colt will stand when tied with a string, or the 
bronco will remain immovable if the bridle-reins be thrown 
over his head. In the same way when the light-harness 
horse is about to assume the duties of the more fashionable 
"heavy leather" and face his new style of bit, he should be 
nose-banded from the first and never allowed to get away 
from — or "behind" — it, and it will be found that, like 
Kipling's engine, he "finds himself" much more quickly 
thus caparisoned. 

The nose-band properly secured will allow any horse 
to be much more lightly bitted, and with it the half-check 
and rather slack chain prove as effective as the middle bar; 
or, if more power is required, the bit may be dropped or 



DRIVING 

elevated, the chain tightened, loosened, roughed or smoothed, 
or chamois-covered, the bit itself perhaps rubber or leather- 
covered, but the reins always in the half-check to the last 
gasp, or the eqtiivalent alternative adopted of using a " port" 
bit. The middle bar is rarely necessary and the lower bar 
never; in fact, the latter is not inappropriately named the 
" duffer's hole " or the " deckhand's refuge, " and if seen to 
be in use the jehu may be, if a professional, safely set down 
as the gardener acting as an understudy for an invalid 
coachman, or, if an amateur, as Mr. Tyro, a near relation to 
the celebrated Indian chieftain, Young-Man- Afraid-of-His- 
Horses! The "lower bar" is an invention of the Old Boy 
himself, and its abuse, upon which those Society for Preven 
tion of Cruelty to Animals agents placidly gaze every day 
in every city, inflicts more suffering than all the "burrs" 
over which the society goes into uncontrollable hysterics. 

A horse's bit should fit him and be as wholly his as his 
collar or his shoes, and there is no possible excuse for any 
other course. As part of his "clothes" it is your duty and 
should be yoiu" pride to see that the measures are exact. 
As commonly made, bits are too long, and not a few are an 
inch or more in excess of the width of the mouth. This 
extra width should be taken up by leather " cheeks, " if one 
does not care to invest in new bits, and a supply of these 
leather disks should always be on hand in the harness-room 
or in the pocket, that they may be slipped on if necessary, 
and also because one may come upon a brute which lunges 
or bores awkwardly about or drives upon one rein, and if 
he has ever worn a "burr" to correct these habits the 
application of a plain leather cheek may keep it in mind 
that the "burr" was uncomfortable if leaned upon, and this 
reminder may keep him up in his place. 



BITS AND BITTING 

The mere dropping of the bit for a hole or two, or its 
elevation by the same distance, sometimes works wonders, 
and it is also a fact that many an animal which gets its 
tongue over the bit persistently when it is pulled up high in 
the mouth will never try to do so when it is dropped very 
low, and it can be nm both sides at pleasure, the reason 
being that it affords a cushion for the bit to lie upon, and 
when this rests in a new place the sensitiveness of the bars 
renders this protection comfortable and necessary. Try 
this on your " tongue-lollers " and see if most of them do not 
abate the nuisance if thus arranged. 

It would seem perfectly possible and practical to apply 
to the Liverpool and " elbow " bits, now so generally accepted 
as the best shapes for heavy-harness work, the jointed 
mouthpiece of the plain snaffle, or at least to curve the 
mouthpiece now used that the action upon the bars, etc., 
might be more direct and less disconcerting. The ordinary 
shape produces an effect most confusing to the "green" 
horse, since as we pull upon one rein and produce a pressure 
upon the lower jaw of one side we make a corresponding 
impression upon the upper jaw of the other, and the animal's 
amazement at these contradictory signals is plainly evidenced 
by his delay in responding or in complying at all. This the 
jointed or curved shapes would prevent, and the effect would 
be almost precisely like that of the ordinary light-harness 
bits. Another effect of the pressure upon the upper jaw, 
where the overdraw check bit has always rested, is to make 
the animal elevate his nose as he has always been forced to 
do. To this the effect of the ciirb-chain adds, since hitherto 
the chin-strap of light-harness days was always associated 
with the overdraw check and meant "Hold up !" while now 
the animal has to learn that it means " Hold down ! " — nor 



DRIVING 

is he permitted to figure this out by degrees, but instant 
compHance is demanded of him, and he is forced by whip 
and voice forward against a bit that gives as many contrary 
signals as a raw soldier with a " wig- wag" signal flag, bruising 
terribly his tender, sensitive bars, and not improbably laying 
the foundation for deep-seated injuries to the jawbone, only 
to be relieved by the sloughing of the lacerated parts or 
severe surgical operations. 

A heavy covering of leather, or preferably of rubber, 
acts well, and the thicker such a bit is the better. Many a 
determined puller will "let go" the moment he finds he is 
not to be hurt and comes into his bridle as well as any horse. 
Others do not fancy the taste of flannel or cloth and go pleas- 
antly in a bit frequently or daily recovered with it. The 
tongue must, of course, be kept under the bit in some way, 
even if it has to be tied down, for no horse who persistently 
carries it above the iron is safe in heavy leather. A long 
and wide "port" made of leather may be sewn upon the 
mouthpiece, but generally if just the right spot is found for 
the resting place of the mouthpiece there will be no trouble 
from this source. 

Driving upon one rein is an annoying fatolt which arises 
generally from sharp and neglected teeth (wolf-teeth) — the 
fact that the animal has been injured upon the side with 
which he pulls; that he has worked, closely coupled, in 
double harness; or that he has successfully resisted efforts 
to turn him in a certain direction and acquired a stiffness 
upon that side ; or that some physical defect makes it painful 
for him to progress otherwise. The operation of "suppling" 
such an animal all over again is tedious, and, at his probable 
age, very difficult, and horses are too plentiful to make it 
worth while to try. Experiment will sometimes discover a 



BITS AND BITTING 

way to change his manners, and he must never be allowed 
to really take hold of you, but be handled with a very light 
touch that is never steady; governed and turned by a series 
of light and almost imperceptible pulls, which allow him, 
as it were, nothing to brace against, and are constantly 
varying in both force and duration, so that he never knows 
what is coming next; driving circles to each hand and " figure 
eights " occasionally if circumstances allow, and shifting his 
bits and their placings constantly. 

There is no reason whatever for our steadfast allegiance 
to the accepted shapes of harness bits, and but that we have 
all fallen victims to the craze for so-called "correctness" 
we should long ago more generally have recognised the virtues 
of various forms of others. In fact, it is by no means 
certain that we are right in controlling the horse by the 
bars of the mouth, and the contrary is susceptible of demon- 
stration. Various contrivances acting upon other portions 
of the jaw and face have been tried and patented, but have 
naturally found little favour. One was called a "facial 
muscle" bit, and consisted of two long arms (connected by 
a bar passing imder the chin) which passed up inside the 
cheeks and next the teeth, the mouth itself being empty. 
It is a fact that a number of desperate pvillers were overcome 
by this arrangement, since they had nothing to take hold 
upon— although whether this effect was lasting is not 
recorded. Other arrangements acted upon the nose and 
face, but one and all found violent opposition, provoked 
much derision, and passed into obscurity, their practical 
value quite unexploited, if, indeed, they had any such merit. 

Of course, to be successful, any system of bitting must 
be accompanied by suitable manipulation and the possession 
of "hands" in delicate development upon the part of the 



DRIVING 

tutor. Such " hands " are really, after all, two-thirds of the 
whole business. The value of a theory consists in the com- 
petent application of it in practice, and a " poor mechanic 
always finds fault with his tools. " The driver who is 
eternally altering couplings, bits, etc., either does not himself 
know what he wants and is trying to do, or else is " playing 
to the gallery. " To the good man they " all look alike, " 
and while he will find that some go more pleasantly than 
others, he will get along at least uncomplainingly with 
anything that wears horsehair, and that with the least 
noticeable effort. 

Pace has a lot to do with mouth and manners, and 
equine peculiarities in this respect must be considered or 
no system of bitting will prove effective. Your judgment 
in this respect is not infallible, and your horse is entitled 
to his opinion on the matter, which you will do well to heed 
if you are to continue amicable relations. Thus your 
preference may be for a very leisurely exit from the stable 
and a walk or very slow jog over the stones and asphalt to 
the park. Your horse, however, is fresh or nervous at some 
strange noises, or " jumpy, " as you sometimes feel yourself 
after a long night, too many cigars, and that last "high 
ball" you did not need. He wants to go on, and, after the 
fashion of tyrannical man, you insist that he shall go your 
pace. You pull, he pulls, and he makes a discovery hitherto 
possibly unknown to him — that you are not omnipotent and 
need not be implicitly obeyed. This trouble of your own 
seeking results not improbably in your discomfiture. It 
irritates many a horse to be restrained for the first half- 
mile or so, and he is disagreeable all day if interfered with, 
charming if humoured. Hunting men all recognise this 
peculiarity in the eager hunter, and it is exactly as usual 



BITS AND BITTING 

in the harness horse, but, in his case, combatted vigorously. 
Mutual pleasure and good-will depend upon mutual 
concessions, but the horse must not suspect the privileges 
allowed, for there can be but one master, and you must 
maintain that position. 

While we speak of a horse's "mouth" being made, and 
of the pressure upon the bars as the all-important element 
in directing his progress, we overlook entirely the main factor 
— the tongue — and its duties, not only as a cushion, but as 
a means, through its sensitiveness, of conveying the 
indications of our hands. That it is this organ to which 
we must attribute nearly all the sensitiveness of the animal's 
mouth is proved by the fact that if it gets over the bit 
control is at once minimised or entirely lost. This elastic 
cushion it is which is constantly in play to lessen the effects 
of sudden pulls, and by the stiffening of its muscles to yield 
just the proper amount of resistance or compliance. No 
system of bitting is complete which does not pay special 
attention to the tongue. 

The difficulties of bitting are accentuated when we 
drive horses in varying combination — as in pairs, fours, etc. 
Length of body and of neck need due consideration in coupling 
a pair, and the diverse natural carriage of the heads must 
be allowed for. Much trouble is caused by oversight in 
this particular, and horses fret, pull, sulk and wear out very 
quickly when wrongly put-to. The short-necked horse, 
if the freest, will pull hard, and the lengthier mate will be 
equally inconvenienced, while many a long, loose-necked 
horse has had to suffer agony and finally be made a puller 
because his short-necked mate, coupled evenly with him, 
could by no anatomical means come up to the level of his 
comrade's mouth ; while the former's length of body in similar 



DRIVING 

cases caused him always to appear behind in his work and to 
be overdriven in consequence. Length of traces and of pole- 
straps have almost as much to do with proper "putting 
together" as coupling, bitting and checking. Fully one- 
third of the stress of any bitting where the curb-chain is 
brought into play falls upon the horse's poll, as the angle 
of headstall, bit and rein shows, and beyond a few crude 
manipulations we make little effort to really bit a horse, 
but class him as well-mannered or a puller according as 
accident or his temper displays his qualities. No puller 
was ever bom, and there is always a reason, anatomical or 
spiritual, for this defect in any horse — generally anatomical. 
Such an unconsidered trifle as the angle formed between 
the mouth and the hames-terrets does not suit every horse; 
and if the reader will stop to think he will probably recall 
horses that drove comfortably in a breast-plate or Dutch 
collar (without terrets), yet never studied the reason. We 
try to make any bit fit ( ?) any mouth, yet half of them are 
too wide or too narrow for their wearers. Many bits are 
worn too high, others too low. Many chains are acutely 
painful, and straps or a chamois covering will work wonders. 
There is a certain bit for every horse, and it is your duty 
to discover and supply it. Rubber or leather coverings are 
essential to some, and they will pull furiously at anything 
else in order to deaden their mouths and escape the torture 
they feel or fear. Changing the balance by various ways 
of shoeing greatly helps some horses and enables them 
to find their centre of gravity without leaning upon the 
driver's hand; and others are unbalanced in two- wheeled 
vehicles yet go evenly in those with four. Altogether, a 
queer-tempered, hard-pulling horse affords a rich field for 
study in the effort to overcome his peculiarities, and there. 



BITS AND BITTING 

is no better school for the ambitious beginner — or experienced 
coachman, for that matter — than that of trying to circumvent 
his idiosyncrasies. 

Good mouths and competent bitting, then, depend as 
much upon ways as upon means — upon methods as upon 
instruments. The simpler these are the better, and the 
gist of the whole matter is that the mouth must be kept 
closed and the tongue in place from the beginning, and that 
every effort must be made by delicate handling and com- 
fortable arrangement to put the animal as much at ease as 
possible, to humour his vagaries where practical, and to 
control him always by the most direct and simplest possible 
combination of bits and bitting. 



*a3 



CHAPTER XIV 



APPOINTMENTS 



Correct appointment may be defined as genuine har- 
mony of detail and outline, quietness of colour and orna- 
mentation, and appropriateness of animal, vehicle and equip- 
ment in every essential, resulting in the perfection of good 
taste, inconspicuous in every point, yet competent for the 
purpose intended. Thus " turned out " one is correct beyond 
dispute, and some day we shall recognise this, and cease 
splitting hairs over the absurd issues which are to-day held 
paramount in these particulars. Since the inception of the 
horse show as a fashionable fad, and the establishment by 
our wealthy amateurs of equipages of more or less pretentious 
appearance, these matters have furnished food for argviments 
of the most heated description, and we have, American-like, 
not infrequently rushed to extremes as ridiculous as they are 
unworkmanlike, swallowing wholesale the camel of dicta- 
torial selection and straining grievously at the gnat of com- 
mon sense appropriateness. True elegance is attained by 
shunning in every detail the flashy and bizarre, and by 
presenting the same graceful vmity of flowing lines, dark 
colours and inconspicuous ornamentation in otu" equipages 
which we evince in our dress, not only preserving thus our 
own self-respect, but also forestalling the ridicule of carping 
critics, and furnishing to the world an object-lesson which 
is also satisfactory to one who has a genius for taking those 
" infinite pains " in providing himself with the conscious- 

12S 



DRIVING 

ness that, let fashions change and contort as they will, he 
is always up to date. 

The ceremonious functions of foreign courts of course 
demand, as a means of identification at courtyard or palace 
gate, thoroughly correct appointment, not only as to equipage, 
but also as to the proper display of the family badge or 
crest, etc., on blinkers, pads, loin-straps, vehicle, etc.; 
and without all these insignia, properly placed and easily 
distinguishable, no vehicle passes muster, but is forthwith 
ordered out of line and sent home as not properly attired. 

So far as show-ring competition goes, it would certainly 
seem that these classes should be open only to amateurs who 
must own their entire exhibit, and display, therefore, only 
what they practically and regularly use. 

To be properly equipped the ambitious amateur cannot 
do better than to place himself unreservedly in the hands of 
any first-class carriage and harness-makers, explaining to 
them his wants, and bearing in mind always that to be 
thoroughly comme il faut the styles he selects must be suit- 
able to his age as well as to his means, and that when he 
chooses his servants and horses he must preserve the same 
harmony of detail. Thus a stout old gentleman and his 
equally portly better-half are hardly in harmonious sur- 
roundings when occupying a smart brougham drawn by a 
flash-going horse and driven by a dapper young man; nor 
will the young horse-owner do well in selecting a heavy 
family brougham, solid and steady horses and the heavy- 
weight middle-aged coachman appropriate for the uses of 
his elders. He who invests should keep in mind all such 
particulars — which are among the genuine essentials of good 
appointment — and follow them throughout all his purchases; 
remembering that, as an elderly man, he has no use for a 




RL XAB(.)UT COiWENTIUXALLY APPOIXTED 




RUNABOUT AI>i'()I.\Ti:ii As IT Lnr.RALI.V SHOULD BE IN AMERICAN STYLE 



APPOINTMENTS 

smart runabout, and no horse proper for it, and that, as a 
youngster, the ponderous gig, or buggy, and correspondingly 
heavy harness will be quite out of place in his stables or at 
his door. We are, when using them, also a part of our 
equipage, and the " eternal fitness of things " does not all 
halt at the mere horse, carriage and harness — the setting, 
as it were, to the attractive ensemble we should desire 
to present. 

Again, the figures and faces of one's servants appear 
conspicuously in the foreground of the picture we aim to 
display, and too much care cannot be exercised in regard 
to them; nor does any other feature do more to secure that 
harmony of detail for which we strive. A man is known and 
classed as much by the servants he keeps as by his other 
equipage, and in figure these should always be smart and 
"genteel," in countenance presentable, in posture graceful, 
in clothing neat, and in manners and bearing unexceptional. 

Having then decided upon the establishment of a family 
equipage, what arms, badge, knot, rebus, monogram, initial, 
etc., shall we use to adorn and to distinguish our appurtenances 
from those of others ? Broadly speaking, there is no proper 
reason in American equipage for the display of crests — or 
coats of arms (an anachronism upon harness or carriages at 
any time), and those of us who can perchance lay claim to 
some sort of family badge are among the most reluctant 
publicly to do so. Badges are absolutely a matter of personal 
choice, if the hereditary right to one be lacking, and any one 
may devise for himself and, as it were, copyright any 
pattern not already claimed. These badges are in use very 
much more generally and are of a more flamboyant style than 
good taste approves, and if they are used at all only those 
of an inconspicuous design and modest size should be dis- 



DRIVING 

played, the monogram or initial being far more neat and 
appropriate. These insignia have their appropriate places 
only upon the door-panels of the vehicle and upon the rosettes, 
face-piece, blinkers, breast- plates (or standing martingale), 
frogs, saddle-skirts and fillet-straps, never exceeding about 
three-quarters of an inch in size. No scroll-work or fancy 
designs, no twisted metal hames and terrets, no flaming 
brow-bands have ever any place in the modest man's equip- 
ment; no fancy stitching, light-yellow collar linings, etc., 
but all quiet, to sombemess, even in the details of the most 
ofifhand and nondescript equipage. Above all should the 
various contraptions with which American carriage-makers 
have flooded our markets be tabooed — those hideous vehicles 
which open and close here, there and everywhere, and 
transform, by pushing this and ptdling that, into everything 
from a hencoop to a dining-room table. Neither on the 
score of utility, good taste or ordinary common sense have 
these products of a diseased imagination any place in a 
gentleman's stable, and the standard types in carriages 
and harness are the only ones worthy of patronage or really 
fit for the purposes intended. Nothing more genuinely con- 
venient, elegant, comfortable and easy of draught has been 
devised than our accepted styles in fashionable vehicles. 
Of course, our native styles, as the rockaway, carryall, 
buggy, exercise cart, etc., have merits of their own which, 
for the purposes intended, are unsurpassed, but our manipula- 
tion of all foreign styles has improved them, externally and 
internally, to an incalciolable extent. 

As the ambition of the average would-be owner and his 
good wife tends first toward the "setting up" of a one-horse 
brougham or victoria, perhaps these should be the ones first 
considered in the lists of appointments which will here be 




A PRIVATE (FRENCH) HANSOM-APPOINTED 




A PRIVATE ILWSDM -APPOINTED 



APPOINTMENTS 

briefly summarised — not dictatorially, nor as more than a 
general guide to accepted good taste, and as a record of what 
has received the meed of approval in all our show-rings as 
being the "correct thing" in appointments. Various details 
may be modified by the owner — as omitting bearing-reins, 
housings, brow-bands, rosettes, etc., from a lady's vehicle, 
turning out with one man on the box, etc. ; but while 
these departures are general, they are "out of drawing," 
and he who allows them cannot rank in the first flight 
of the correctly appointed. A man's equipage may "leave 
off " almost anything — in fact, " everything on " for a lady's 
use and "all possible off" for a man's use is perhaps as apt 
an epitome of appointment as one can desire. 

THE SINGLE BROUGHAM 

Of accepted pattern and easily flowing lines ; not exagger- 
ated as to style of door, windows, etc. ; proportioned to the size 
of horses kept ; if intended for occasional use with a pair, rather 
more solid in effect than if always to be used with one horse ; 
rubber tired; metal rim to coachman's seat and on door handle ; 
dark colours; no striping or light painting of wheels (as red, 
yellow, etc.), unless these colours are already adopted and the 
equipage ultra-smart; lower panels painted to match seat- 
covering, livery and robe; shaft tips black (japanned); 
servants in full livery (breeches, boots, etc., as described 
elsewhere) unless footman is carried. This servant is, 
however, usually noticed only on the box of an open carriage, 
as a victoria, caleche, etc., although, as essentially a lady's 
servant, he is always in place upon any lady's carriage. 
Great coats and robe if weather demands; rain-coats 
under seat; carriage umbrella in boot; robe like lining 
for occupants; clock and conveniences in receptacles pro- 



DRIVING 

vided; windows or shutters up when going to or coming 
from home, and lowered when waiting for master; always 
two servants, groom standing at hinge side of door, robe 
over left arm, when waiting. 

Harness black; double lined; brass or silver trim accord- 
ing to vehicle, brass being perhaps the smartest, but silver 
possibly more elegant and less usual; twisted furniture never 
proper; all buckles square, and single, with single billets; 
bridle, square or D-shaped blinkers ; pulley or French bridoon, 
bearing- rein, double-ring drop attached to crown-piece; 
Buxton bit ; single link or square metal brow-band according 
as D-shaped or square blinkers are used; flowers in headstall 
rather neat; collar, Kay or rim; hames, anchor-draught, 
jointed ferrets, plain tug (no clip nor rivets showing) ; 
billet for trace of one piece, but never metal; chain and ring 
plated like harness; standing martingale from pad-girth, 
through kidney-link ring to nose-band; pad, straight; 
Tilbury tugs; hook, never post, for bearing- rein ; breeching; 
brown reins; badges, monograms, etc., as described. Horse 
of size to correspond with brougham, of fine presence standing, 
and dignified lofty carriage, long and wide, dark colour, no 
(or very little) white; a dip in back is gracefvd; good bone; 
moderate pace (at least eight miles) ; good, true, all-around 
action, active, well-mannered. Servants of age and figure 
to correspond with vehicle and owner, etc. Such details 
are trifles, perhaps, but one should always bear them in 
mind in the establishment of an equipage, with a view to 
the eternal harmony of things. For the 

BACHELOR BROUGHAM 

one man only is permissible, and the harness may be deprived 
of all its "unnecessaries," even to the breeching (although 



APPOINTMENTS 

this is reckless, unsafe at times in hilly streets, and therefore 
properly always used). This is the "utility" or man's 
brougham as distinguished from that of the lady, and while 
the same regulations as to quietness and elegance are pre- 
ferable, a lightening of effect by faint striping of the running- 
gear is not objectionable. The horse for this should be very 
smart, and flash, some white is allowable, and its colour may 
be anything. The servant should be young and trim — 
the general effect of this equipage making for smartness and 
dash as against the solidity and quiet elegance of the lady's 
carriage. Rosettes are by no means allowed upon the harness, 
but flowers may be worn in the brow-band. 

The interior fittings should be such as a man would need 
in contradistinction or in addition to what the lady's carriage 
contains — as match-box, cigarette case, etc. 

THE PAIR-HORSE BROUGHAM 

is the same in all details, including horses, servants, etc., 
as the single brougham first described, except that— if always 
to be used with a pair — it will be proportionately heavier, 
as will the general effect of the harness, which resembles in 
general that of the wheel of a park four-in-hand, etc.; 15.3 
is big enough, single or double, for anything, and an inch or 
so less not unusual, but the very quick-stepping phaeton- 
horse type is hardly proper for brougham work, although, 
of cotirse, a brougham horse should be able to make haste a 
little if late for luncheon, theatre, etc. 

Victoria (cabriolet), Single and Pair Horse. — Everything 
the same as for single or double brougham, save that the 
pad is much lighter and narrower, blinkers smaller and 
D-shaped. Most critics contend that for this carriage 
alone and for pair-horse work are cloth housings, silk 



DRIVING 

brow-bands, rosettes, etc., admissible, but the point 
has always seemed ill-taken. Allowing that the victoria 
(or, ill-named, cabriolet) and the caleche are distinctively 
feminine carriages, the brougham is, by the necessities 
of our climate, as essentially hers, and should it not be 
as fully dressed? As distinctively full-dress, such appur- 
tenances seem essentially feminine, and as not only 
allowable but demanded by all the argtiments of good taste. 
We must admit, in spite of our fads in these connections, that 
harness-makers know something of their business, and why 
do they provide such things if they are "only to be used 
before the victoria or caleche"? We need definite decisions 
upon these much-disputed points, and arguments for or 
against the use of these trappings in all feminine connec- 
tion need ratification upon other grounds than those of 
mere personal prejudice or caprice. 

THE PARK DRAG 

Always dark-coloured, and if two colours are combined 
they should be very quiet and harmonise well. The metal 
mountings are the same as on harness. Badges are hardly 
appropriate, but may appear ; monograms, instead, are proper 
on door- and boot-panels. The hind seat is on curved iron 
braces, has no lazy back, and accommodates only the two 
servants. The vehicle has a perch and collinge or mail axles. 
The body and the hind boot are always alike in colour, while 
the box-risers, the toe-board, etc., are like running-gear; the 
cloth of seats matches predominant colour of vehicle. The 
hind boot door is hinged at the bottom. The lead-bar and 
main bar (screw-heads up) are attached to back of dicky 
seat, the latter on top. There are no luggage straps, etc., 
on roof. The " imperial " is never carried save when actually 



APPOINTMENTS 

conveying a lunch. The interior Hnings are of leather or 
cloth, and there are the usual fittings of hat-straps, pockets, 
lamp-sockets, etc., the lamps being carried inside during 
the daytime. All aprons and rugs are carried, neatly 
folded, on the front seat; the shutters are down. The lazy- 
backs on gammon and back-gammon seats are down, unless 
in actual use. The skid hangs on near side and is applied 
to near wheel. The harness should be used complete as 
furnished, although in practice housings, loin-straps, etc., 
are frequently omitted, but the propriety of this is at least 
questionable. It should be double-lined, brass or silver 
trim, bearing monograms (or badges) on rosettes, face- 
pieces, blinkers, pads, trace-bearers, and breast-plate frogs; 
blinkers square or D-shaped, metal front (square or curb- 
chain pattern, according to shape of blinkers) ; bridoon or 
French bearing-reins; drop strap attached to crown-piece; 
turrets on crown-piece of wheelers, and others on outside 
blinker-stays ; Buxton bits ; patent-leather Kay or rim collars ; 
breast-plates throughout, working on kidney-links and round 
collar-throats; jointed kidney-links and rings throughout; 
metal squares on wheel trace-ends, inside trace one hole shorter 
if roller-bolts are alike ; lead traces straight, lapped or crossed, 
according to need. Anchor draught on hames and rivet 
heads exposed on tugs; jointed hames-terrets; links plated to 
match furniture ; snap hooks ; screw-heads up on lead traces ; 
cruppers with (or better without) buckles; burnished pole- 
chains, with spring hooks. The head man's livery has flap- 
pockets; both men's coats same (groom's) length, full-skirted 
and plain-collared (velvet collars on great coats) ; waistcoats 
striped, showing a little at coat collar; leather (or white 
stockinet) breeches; straight shaped hats; livery collars; 
white ties; brown gloves. The head man always sits off-side. 



DRIVING 

and goes to wheelers' heads; both men should shape alike, 
be smart and active, and ascend and descend quickly and 
together. Kidney-link rings are generally left off the 
leaders' harness, but there seems no reason for it. The 
breast-plates are generally buckled through the inner wire 
of the kidney-links, but it is far more secure to carry them 
round the collar-throat as well, that all may be safe in case 
of the hames slipping or the hames-strap breaking. 

THE PRIVATE OMNIBUS 

This is distinctly a "utility" vehicle, but should still be 
turned out in the city with its two men in full dress. For 
country work stable clothes are used; and not infrequently 
three horses are driven abreast as handling a heavy load 
better than two or four. It also makes a useftd vehicle for 
off-hand four-in-hand driving (in which case the servants go 
inside and the roof seat is carried). It should be quietly 
coloured; cord or cloth trimmed; the brougham harness is 
used in town, and anything, as the wheel set of a four-in- 
hand harness, in the country. Any horses are suitable, 
but for country work at least "train-catchers" are required 
— i. e., those that can carry a load along at a smart pace. 
No vehicle is more convenient, and it is especially useful if 
the top shifts, as it may then be converted at will into an open 
wagonet; or, the roof seat being also removable, it replaces 
on the open body and forms a very fair brake. The top 
should always have a roof rail, as it makes an important 
accessory for station work in the way of carrying baggage. 

LANDAU OR OTHER HEAVY CARRIAGE 

Colours dark, cloth-trimmed, harness same as for 
brougham, but more massive throughout; breeching may 



» 



APPOINTMENTS 

be worn. The servants should be in keeping as to age, size, 
etc., and the Hght, small men are manifestly out of place here. 
The horses should not be under sixteen hands, and are more 
"in the drawing" if the tails are long, or docked very long, 
set up, and the hair trimmed in a gracefiil switch. The 
usual internal fittings, etc., are required. 

THE ROAD COACH 

This should be done up in flash colours, the coach body 
and boot-panels being alike; the risers, toe-board and hind 
seat-panels being like the under-carriage, etc. ; the seats — all 
lazy-backs being up — covered with pigskin, carpet or scarlet 
broadcloth (which is very smart) ; guard's seat boxed with 
wooden risers, and full width for four people; basket near 
side in front of guard, whose seat and anchor are on that side ; 
luggage straps always ; all rugs folded up on front seat ready 
for use ; lamps always in brackets ; skid hung on near side ; 
spare bars as in private drag; clock on toe-board; collinge or 
mail axles; inside preferably wood finish, with hat-straps, 
pockets, etc., as usual; wheel-jack, wrench, hammer, cord, 
wire, rope, punch, rein- and trace-splicers, bearing-rein, hoof- 
pick, nose-bands and jaw-straps, spare whip (jointed). 
Pole-head and chains preferably painted black; chains single 
link, passed through pole-eye from inside out, thence through 
kidney-link ring, and fastened in proper chain-link by open 
hook confined by rubber band (poling should not be too 
tight). Black or brown single-strap harness, yellow stitched, 
has horseshoe buckles throughout; flowers may be worn; 
bridle fronts in coach colours or metal; no face-pieces or 
bearing-reins (unless latter is needed on some horse, and then 
always short, and not "full" on bridoon); terrets, etc., as in 
park harness; straight black, brown or brown-lined collars, 

135 



DRIVING 

very carefully fitted; ring-draught on hames; hook, eye and 
chain kidney-links, rings on all; breast-plates on wheelers; 
lead traces preferably crossed (all horses work better thus); 
traces sewed into rings; wheelers' traces French-loop or 
chain-end, ring outside ; loops best for quick changing; leaders' 
snap traces cockeyes up; breast-plates always round collars 
and through kidney-link; Newmarket tugs; cruppers buckle 
or not; spare collar (on lamp bracket). The guard should be 
dressed quietly in some sporting mixed cloth, the breeches 
like the coat, the gaiters the same or of pigskin. Scarlet for 
the coat is most inappropriate as peculiar to the royal mail 
coaches only, while the green and other cloths sometimes 
used savour too much of badly made livery. The hat is a light 
gray or dark felt; strap over right shoulder supports pouch 
carrying way-bills, coach-key and watch. Everything should 
be simple, plain (the smarter in effect for that) and ready 
for hard and immediate usage. The leaders' harness may be 
devoid of pads, and carry only trace-bearers from the hames- 
terrets to the trace-buckles (or these may be left off). In 
the same way, if a thick felt pad is used under the wheelers' 
pads, to prevent the pad-edge from cutting the back through 
up-draught from the reins, the cruppers may be dispensed 
with. Round or horseshoe blinkers are never as becoming 
as the square or D-shaped. 

MAIL PHAETON 

Dark colours throughout. Pole- head, etc., polished steel; 
pole-chains and not pole-straps are essential for any phaeton, 
whether for masculine or feminine use. Horses must be large 
— from sixteen hands upward. Harness that is used with 
brougham, or the wheel set of a park four-in-hand harness, 
may be used. A four or a spike-team may be driven in this 

136 




PRIVATE OMNIBUS AND THREE HORSES ABREAST 



APPOINTMENTS 

vehicle. Two servants should always accompany it. Owing 
to its weight and ctimbersomeness it is now nearly obsolete, 
and its place has been acceptably filled by the lighter con- 
structions as the demi-mail, stanhope or spider phaeton. These 
elegant carriages should be dark in colour throughout, or 
very slightly relieved as to the wheels and under-carriage by 
stripings. The linings are always of appropriate coloured 
cloth. The stanhope and the demi-mail are now almost 
entirely superseded by the spider, a very graceful and com- 
pact vehicle and very " becoming " to its horses. Harness of 
brougham type but rather lighter is used, and the horses run 
from 14.3 to 15.2 in most appropriate heights. When " turned 
out" for a lady's use — this being, whether drawn by one or 
two horses, essentially appropriate to her needs, as safe, easy 
of access, etc. — the complete double harness is used, and pole- 
chains as for a gentleman. Arguments are made that here 
again housings, flowers and all the refinements are perfectly 
apropos, but custom is rather against it. If a single horse is 
driven, he should be thick and stout in order to handle com- 
fortably the weight of the carriage and possible occupants, 
and should stand at least 15.2, and such an arrangement is 
perfectly proper and very useful for the stanhope phaeton 
as well, especially for park or city driving. 

The George the Fourth and the Peters Phaeton are, 
however, the most refined vehicles for a lady's driving, 
and the same details apply to them as to the spider. The 
servant should always be very smart, trim, slight and 
good-looking. 

These Itixurious carriages have the drawbacks of being 
expensive to acquire, difficult to realise on at second-hand, 
and of being heavy of draught because of the small wheels 
and long under-carriage, and are fit only for the well-kept 



DRIVING 

roads of park and city. Rubber tires, as on all heavy vehicles 
except coaches, brakes, etc., are always used. 

THE lady's country PHAETON 

This charming little carriage is coming into much favour 
through its lightness, smartness and general utility. It 
should have a rumble, as should any vehicle intended for a 
lady's use, that a servant may always accompany her, and 
also, in summer, a movable canopy top. A smart cob or a 
pair of them are indicated; the harness should be that suit- 
able for light phaeton work, and fully equipped, if single, 
with breeching, etc., although shaft-stops and kicking-strap 
are fancied by some. The servant should be in stable clothes. 

THE lady's FRENCH CHAISE 

This two-wheeler is very comfortable, easy of access, but 
essentially a utility carriage, and to be turned out informally. 
It may be used as a park conveyance, in which case all the 
essentials of park equipage must be observed. 

THE GIG, OR tilbury 

The fashion of the hour is for the gig, although a few 
owners still favour the Tilbury. The latter is lighter in 
effect, and may be reduced to miniature dimensions, as is 
now frequently done with both in order that a smaller horse 
may be used. This change has come about since the endorse- 
ment of the 14.3 horse as a "typical" gig animal. The 
colours of a gig may be flashy, but are more elegant, as is 
always the case if they are very quiet. The trimming may 
be of cloth, which is preferable, or of cord ; lamps are square, 
and rubber tires are general. The harness for the gig is 
almost identical with that for light brougham — brass or silver 

1.5S 



APPOINTMENTS 

mounting; square or D-shaped blinkers; gig bit; bridoon; 
French or short bearing-rein; face-piece; flowers; standing 
martingale; rim or Kay collar; chain fastening for hames; 
straight pad; Tilbury tugs; single square-shaped buckles; 
kicking-strap or none. Groom small, active, wearing groom's 
livery. Rug according to weather; rain-coats for owner; same 
for servant. If full-sized gig is used, the horse must not be 
under 15.2, and should have pace and all-round action. 
Except in America, the gig is a strictly "utility" trap, and 
may be so "turned out" here with man in stable clothes, etc. 
As a vehicle that is actually but little used in America it has 
always seemed that we were paying a nonsensical amount 
of attention to this carriage and its outfit. 

THE RUNABOUT 

This wagon may be flashy or quiet as to colour, and 
is generally relieved as to wheels and under-carriage by 
lighter colouring or by striping. Its trim is of cloth or cord, 
and it has no driving cushion ; is rubber tired ; high or low 
wheels; regulation side-bar or end springs. The shafts 
bear stops. If used with a pole, this may work either with 
a neck-yoke (preferably) or a crab. An additional wire 
screen is useful on the dash, as our native horses are apt, 
if possessed of any action, to throw gravel and filth all 
over the occupants. The harness may be brass or silver, 
with square D or round blinkers; "full" or short check 
or none; any bit; no martingale or breast- plate ; collar, 
straight or shaped, or breast collar proper; single horseshoe 
buckles; any draught on hames; chain fastening for hames; 
kicking-strap, breeching, or preferably neither; servant not 
needed (wears stable clothes if carried) ; rug according to 
weather; rain-coat and apron; cooler, tie-strap, wrench, cord, 



DRIVING 

wire, lamp, watch, lashed whip, etc. Light American-style 
harness and straight whip, moreover, always seem most 
appropriate. The horse should not be over 15.1, smart, 
upheaded, flash-marked or coloured, if preferred, have plenty 
of pace and good all-round action, but by no means too 
high in front. 

THE HANSOM 

This may be flash-coloured if a man only is likely to use 
it, otherwise quiet; no luggage rails on roof; lamps to taste; 
rubber tires. Harness has no bearing-reins; any bit; no 
face-piece nor breast-plate ; round tugs ; straight saddle ; traces 
chain-ends, shortening at the end by buckle; ring draught; 
breeching; buckles square or horseshoe. Servant, dark 
cutaway, trousers, and high felt or derby hat; cloth or 
"Benjamin" overcoat; rug and weather-apron over safety 
strap at driver's off-side; rugs according to weather; doors 
shut when unoccupied, and glass down. 

THE ROAD WAGON 

Everything about this characteristically American vehicle 
must be as simple, practical and unostentatious as is the 
native character. The vehicle may have faintly striped 
running-gear and wheels, but this should not be in violently 
contrasting colour; cloth trim, top curtains, and apron under 
seat; modest kit of the essentials, as hoof-pick, cord, wrench, 
scraper, cooler, tie-rein, lamp, etc., but not the manifest 
absurdities of wheel- jack (to grease a ninety-pound wagon, 
yet no grease provided !) , head-collar (to stop at road-houses 
where ties are plenty), shoes and nails (yet never hammer, 
pincers, rasp, nor a full set — nor the skill to put them on), 
etc. We have reached really idiotic lengths in these 
classes so far as this detail goes. A rain-coat, a lap-robe 




\ COUNTRY PHAETON 




IfT 



GOVERNESS CART 



APPOINTMENTS 

according to weather, and a useful but not extravagant 
whip. The wheels always rubber-tired, and either high 
(hard rubber) or low (pneumatic), the latter being now 
favoured; end spring or side-bar; monogram or initial or 
badge allowable on seat-riser. The speed wagons are not 
road wagons at all, and never should be endorsed as such. 
They afford neither protection from the weather nor comfort 
to the occupant. The harness, very light and simple, black, 
double lined, black stitching, brass or silver trimmed; 
horseshoe, leather - covered buckles, single billets, of 
leather always; square blinkers; quiet colour allowable in 
brow-band; overdraw or high side-check, loops on crown- 
piece (not throat-latch) ; bits as appropriate to horse ; running 
martingale (if any) ; traces flat (or may be rounded half way) ; 
fiat reins (sometimes rounded to about horses' hips) ; initial 
or monogram or badge on blinkers (sometimes also on rosettes, 
hip straps, and breast-plate, but savour of too much display). 
The double harness has hames, leather- covered, gilt draught, 
and eyes; inside ferrets on strap; collar (shaped) or breast 
collars with bar, etc., to take pole-pieces; trace-loops on 
saddle; no trace- bearers, housings, etc.; always breast-plates 
which may have initials, etc., on frogs; reins fiat or round; 
traces same. 

THE SPEEDING WAGON 

Is for that purpose only, and has no special appointments; 
should be of quiet colour. Harness may be the very light 
road harness described or the so-called "two-minute" style, 
which has neither breast-collar nor breeching, a thimble 
taking the ends of the shafts, going up thence to the saddle- 
flaps, and then continued along the horse's side, as a trace, 
to the whiffletree. If breeching is used, there should be 



DRIVING 

snubbing-straps or some arrangement to keep it down, or 
otherwise it almost surely works up if a horse pulls, and 
getting under tail may bring about a kicking scrape or a 
runaway. The shafts are always worn well up on the horse's 
shoulders — the tugs being shortened to effect this — in order 
that all shoiilder motion may be avoided and the vehicle 
follow true and steady. The other appointments carried 
should not exceed rug, cooler, tie-strap, whip, wrench and 
rain-coat, especially as the wagon has but little storage 
capacity. 

THE TANDEM 

A curiously inappropriate fashion was at one time in 
vogue in this country of " turning out " what was called a 
"park tandem." Prizes were given at our shows for this 
anomaloiiis outfit, and much care was taken in its appointment. 
There was, however, never any reasonable grounds for its 
inception, and that the nondescript failed of popularity is 
proven by the fact that such classes have been abandoned, 
and so violent has been the reaction that we have proceeded 
to the informal lengths of using all sorts of gigs for tandem 
driving, while the convenient and generally becoming 
breast-collar is now almost universally used on the leader. 
Unless a revival of interest in the details of the equipage 
occurs, it is probable that it will become as unusual as is 
the chaise or curricle. 

The principal characteristic of any tandem may well be 
its informality, and with this in view perhaps gigs, skeleton 
or otherwise, are allowable. Originally used as a makeshift 
for covering unexpectedly heavy roads or for getting a hunter 
to covert-side, this equipage partakes in every detail of the 
sporting; and as such, horseshoe buckles, ring draughts, 
basil-facing to collar (straight) and pad, elbow or any other 




MORNING PHAETON AND COB 



APPOINTMENTS 

bits, etc., are indicated; the hames-hooks, rings, and the 
eyes for lead traces being burnished. Round or horseshoe 
blinkers are sometimes used, but are not becoming; checks may 
be used or not, as necessary ; in fact, convenience or personal 
predilection only should be consulted, although naturally a 
park gig and a rovigh-and-ready road harness are hardly in 
good taste. The servant may be dressed in stable clothes 
if preferred. 

If an attempt is made at "park" outfit, the usual 
characteristics of such harness must be followed. The 
servant may be in livery; Buxton bits; bridoon checks, if 
any; face-pieces; collar and hames on both horses; standing 
martingale on wheeler; shaped collar; finger draughts; trace- 
bearers, etc. ; the blinkers square or D-shaped. A regular 
tandem cart should be used, and not a gig, and in so far as 
these details go the " park " features may differ from the 
" road. " 

Tandem cart shafts are generally straight, and great 
care should be used that the vehicle balances properly — • 
never "by the head," but, if anything, tipped a little back. 
The belly-band should be very loose, that the shafts may 
have full play, which the open (never French or Tilbury) 
tugs assist. The balance may be additionally regulated by 
shifting the body forward or back on the under-carriage or 
by moving the seats as needful. 



»43 




A JAUM IN(i CAk 




A LADY'S CHAISE 



CHAPTER XV 

ECCENTRICITIES IN APPOINTMENTS 

Important as the details of correct appointment are to 
the dignity and harmonious appearance of an equipage, it 
must be confessed that in some matters regarding it we go 
to extraordinary lengths, and accept dictatorial selection 
unsupported by either argument or reason for many par- 
ticulars which are unnecessary and neither in good taste 
nor useful. We strain after efifect, yet wink at arrange- 
ments often most extraordinarily bizarre and which have no 
genuine reason for acceptance. We retain, for example, 
upon the heavy harness, various accessories which have no 
place either for use or ornament upon any horse well trained 
or well formed enough for such work; ignoring the fact that 
the lines of true beauty lie always in the curve, we at times 
and for no appreciable reason endorse the sharpest of angles 
and the most extraordinarily abrupt of curves in our carriages ; 
we peer forth from our brougham through windows so small 
and high that seclusion is the occupant's portion whether 
she desires it or not ; we rvm the varieties of carriage into each 
other until we can hardly denominate them ourselves; we 
condemn certain trappings upon certain harnesses for single- 
horse work, and insist upon them for a pair before the same 
carriage; we retain certain buttons and length of coat, etc., 
in our liveries because — well, no one knows why; and we 
soberly and perpetually sit upon and demand that our 
coachman sit upon the right-hand side of our vehicles, whereas 
we also turn to the right, thus violating every common- 



DRIVING 

sense requirement of the rules of the road, obstructing 
traffic, and endangering ourselves and others by our blind 
adherence to an obsolete fashion. 

We are wonderfully cautious about special clips and the 
shape and substance of our kidney-links, but supremely 
careless and slavishly imitative of the really material points 
in the matter at issue, sacrificing the substance for the shadow, 
and thrice happy in the consciousness that because we are 
so dismally like everybody else we must be correct. 

In the colour of our vehicles, to begin with, we practically 
all follow the same lines. Eliminate three shades — black, 
invisible blue and ditto green — and you do away with two- 
thirds of the private equipages in any city; nor can pater- 
familias differentiate the family brougham from any of the 
rest in line at ball or play except by the countenances of his 
servants. Not that dark colours are not always the more 
elegant and refined, nor that gaudy wheels and flashy panels 
are indicated, but that various faint stripings in shadings 
might be used much more freely than they are, and the 
" passing show " prove all the more attractive and 
"individual" for the innovation. 

The high door-panels and the small windows — often 
with narrow panes — were and are certainly in bad taste as 
being inconvenient, stuffy, and rendering recognition of the 
occupants most diffictilt. A veiled lady suddenly bobbing 
forward to bow from the darkling recesses of such a carriage 
has the startling effect of the outburst of a jack-in-the-box; 
and certainly her dignity suffers in the operation, even if her 
headdress is not disarranged. The high-backed victoria of 
hideous memory was another contraption which played 
havoc with hats and hair and held its victim as securely 
encircled as an octopus on wheels. The miniature victoria 

146 




SKELETON GIG 




PARK GATE GIG 



ECCENTRICITIES IN APPOINTMENTS 

in the same fashion is certainly not an attractive equipage 
for feminine use, and far too offhand in effect to rank as suitable 
for town or park ; nor is it recognised as a fashionable carriage 
in any country but this and Russia, where, with its fast 
trotting horses, it is a man's or a public carriage rather than 
a woman's — for no vehicle is essentially feminine which does 
not carry or provide for a footman as well as a coachman. 
The hansom, also in favour, is surely not a conveyance for 
the gentler sex in its private character, whatever position 
it may hold as a public necessity. The various phaetons 
are surely not suitable for ladies unless they have a rumble 
to convey a groom. Many other solecisms in relation to 
both mascioline and feminine purposes will occur to anyone 
interested in the matter of really appropriate vehicular 
appointment. 

As to heavy harness, it certainly seems that a sensible 
rule would read, "Everything off for a man; everything on 
as made, and all additional refined ornamentation possible, 
for a. lady's use." This brings us at once to the much- 
discussed question of cloth housings and brow-bands upon 
all harnesses intended for a lady's carriage, and certainly it 
appears that, single or double, if correct at all, they must be 
logically correct everywhere — not only before the caleche 
and victoria, but the landau, the phaeton and the brougham 
— not necessarily a fine-weather carriage in this country. 
With these should logically go all the rest of the harness 
superfluities — as loin-straps or trace-bearers, etc. ; nor does 
there appear any good reason — except "some one says so" — 
why these trappings must only be worn when a servant 
drives; or that pole-pieces and not pole-chains may be used 
if the regalia are all in evidence and the lady drives her own 
phaeton. What is the reason they are wrong one way and 



DRIVING 

right the other? If there is none to allege, then let it rest 
upon the point of personal privilege and be accepted as correct 
however any one elect to equip his outfit. 

If housings, etc., are wrong, what shall we say of a stand- 
ing martingale that is unsightly, useless and needless upon 
any properly broken horse? Or of a nose-band which can 
neither be used as such nor is so placed as to be effective? 
Of pads for victoria work as broad as and exactly similar 
to those for brougham use, and of runabout pads as large as 
those for gig work? Of French checks, accepted nowadays 
as full-dress, which are as makeshift in appearance as a 
trotting overdraw? Of the almost universal fashion of 
putting breast collars on gig, runabout and sometimes 
victoria horses ? Of the general omission of the breeching 
in the lighter vehicles? Of the huge and closely fitted 
blinkers as disfiguring as torturing? Of the shaped collars 
which do not fit one horse in fifty ? Of the bespangling 
crests, badges and monograms which disfigure nearly all 
harness and which are generally as illicit as inappropriate? 
Of the brass kidney-links which are so sure to become steel 
when the plating wears off, as it will with use ? Of the 
improperly placed pole-pieces — through the kidney-link rings 
only; and of various other details in harness appointment as 
impractical as universal ? 

Why must livery coats for footmen and grooms differ 
so widely in detail? Surely, these men should contrast 
sufficiently in size, type and appearance to be distinguished. 
Why, in a hot climate, object to stockinet or other thin 
material for breeches? 

Why sit always upon the right in a country where you 
turn the same way, and are thus prevented by the rules of 
the road from seeing your inside wheel? from admitting a 

148 



ECCENTRICITIES IN APPOINTMENTS 

passenger without either alighting and losing control of your 
horse, compelling him to make a dishevelling crawl under or 
a skip over your reins at ascending and alighting, or turning 
round to face the stream of traffic on the wrong side of the 
road, where you have no earthly right to be? Why compel 
your footman to jump down into the street, run roiind the 
carriage at stopping and do the same thing at starting, when 
your comfort and convenience, as well as the celerity of his 
appearance at your side, would be so much enhanced if your 
coachman sat upon the left ? Why delay all traffic and fume 
at delays similarly caused by others by adherence to a custom 
which has no grounds for existence, is wrong in principle, 
and injurious in practice? Why subject your horses to 
constant turnings and checkings m and out of line caused 
by the fact that you or your man, from a seat upon the 
right, cannot see where you are going until you pull out 
from behind other vehicles in front? 

The fit of the harness, its proportion to the carriage and 
horses and their relation to the vehicle, the manner of their 
putting-to, in regard both to each other and to the vehicle; 
the appropriateness of your outfit to your age, stature, 
position, and means; the ultra-smartness, neatness, fit, and 
shape of everything are surely more important details than 
the position of clips or the style of equipage, and are the 
genuine essentials. 

What will be exactly right at one period of life is 
exactly wrong at another; and anything special in the 
way of horse, vehicle or trappings must be thoroughly 
carried out all the way through, if good taste is to be in 
evidence. The smart brougham, light servants and flash 
horses are by no means the entourage of the dowager, nor 
is the lumbering brougham, the stout coachman and the 



DRIVING 

heavy, phlegmatic horses the equipage of the young and 
newly married. 

Surely a stable groom has no place upon a lady's 
carriage. He will never be needed for the horses if 
they are such as any woman ought to ride behind, and the 
fastidious revolt at the idea that a mere stable-hand has any 
place as a lady's servant. A footman, dressed as such, 
is surely as presumably familiar with milady's acquaintances, 
shopping expeditions, etc., by far more in place, and 
certainly his presence lends an air of refinement and a regard 
for the fitness of things to the equipage, which is not at hand 
when some strapper is promoted to do her bidding. Nor 
need his appearance be confined to the box of the victoria, 
as is usually the case, but he should certainly be as useful 
on the brougham or landau as upon the summer carriage. 

Can anything well be more irrelevant, more out of drawing 
than many of our officially endorsed appointments? Let 
us consider the ninabout, a strictly American type of vehicle 
and logically to be turned out with a light and graceful 
harness, a long-tailed horse, and a straight whip, etc. 
We require a dock-tailed horse, that he may be enabled to 
throve mud and filth all over us; we insist upon action which 
is certain to bring about this result. We equip this curious 
steed in a harness heavy enough to pull a light brougham or 
gig, with huge blinkers, thick traces, and wide, heavy pad. 
We restrict the type of wagon — although as long as you say 
"runabout" this is legally necessary as copyrighted for one 
certain style of axles, etc. — and endorse a vehicle like the 
easy-riding end-spring wagon in every point but that of 
comfort , we perch ourselves upon a driving cushion (although 
this is now losing favour), regardless of the fact that it is most 
uncomfortable for long trips and utterly useless in such a 

ISO 




BREAK AND ROAD FOUR 




SKELETON' BREAK 



ECCENTRICITIES IN APPOINTMENTS 

carriage. We require blanket, lap robe (even in stimmer), 
head-collar (although tie-strap is better, and some horses 
would run away if unbridled and haltered when tied up), 
and various other immaterial trifles, yet no oil-can nor 
anything else genuinely needful; and demand a lash whip 
instead of straight, as would surely be best, as being Ameri- 
can. Nothing more really grotesque and ill-arranged can be 
imagined than the typical rvmabout, from its slight shafts 
run into huge tugs to its box-apron in August; from its 
breechingless harness to its stub-tailed "gee-gee." 

As to the conventional gig appointments, we seem more 
nearly to follow the dictates of generally accepted appropriate- 
ness, save that, as instanced elsewhere, we retain several 
superfluous details of the harness and have fallen into a fashion 
of miniaturing the vehicle until its appearance is squatty 
and not as graceful as the full-sized carriage with large — 
about fifty-six-inch — wheels. Surely the standing martingale 
has no place, save as a useless appendage, on the gig harness. 

The tandem is nowadays virtually obsolete, but when 
driven should certainly be before a regulation tandem cart 
and with a breeching. 

The single victoria seems sensibly turned out as it stands, 
save in the matter of the standing martingale, and in the 
growing fancy for the so-called " French checks, " which 
are hardly full-dress. If housings, etc., are appropriate for 
double harness, there seems no logical reason why the single 
harness should not also show them. Whatever is correct 
for victoria, etc., should also reasonably appear suitable for 
brougham, landau and town omnibus work. 

Phaetons seem nicely turned out, except that, for pair- 
horse work in all heavy harness, there seems no reason why 
kidney-links should be plated. Certainly, if in daily use, 



DRIVING 

the plating will wear off, and nicely burnished steel is far 
more ornamental than worn and battered brass. Again, 
housings would reasonably appear suitable for all equipages 
used by a lady, whether she drives or not; nor does there 
appear any wiitten law that housings, etc., must not be 
used with pole-chains; nor why a lady, if this is the case, 
may not omit the chains and use pole-pieces not only with 
perfect propriety but as really more refined, because less 
noisy in work. 

All matters relating to both road and park four-in- 
hand work have been ably and definitely settled by The 
Coaching Club. 



CHAPTER XVI 

SERVANTS, THEIR DUTIES, LIVERIES; STUD-GROOM, COACHMAN, 
GROOMS, ETC. 

No ONE can be a satisfactory employer or a thoroughly 
reasonable master imless he knows not only how the various 
duties and tasks he exacts can best be performed, but can 
accomplish them himself. It is for this reason that relations 
with our domestic servants are so generally unsatisfactory 
and that both employer and employee are dissatisfied. A 
man is conversant with the duties of his bookkeeper and 
clerks, and with those of the captain of his yacht, but of 
what is possible to the dependents in and about his household 
he has but a vague idea, is a tyrant or an " easy boss " according 
to his temper and nature, and matters are slurred over or 
attended to by fits and starts accordingly. Another trouble 
arises from the fact that many of our newly and suddenly 
rich have no conception of the part they would perform, and, 
anxious to escape the tmpleasant experiences of friends, pro- 
ceed to the extremes of arbitrary and domineering manage- 
ment, resulting in additional complications of all kinds. 

He will succeed best who treats his servants as such, 
allowing no liberties, and neither taking favours from nor 
granting concessions to any one of them. They like a man 
who keeps them in their places, and respect the one who will 
stand no nonsense. " He was a terrible hard man to work 
for," they will say admiringly, " and never stood no nonsense 
from anybody," and with such a one they will contentedly 
remain for years. Above all, they must have a head, and if 



DRIVING 

even two only are kept the one must outrank the other, 
and whoever is the chief should have the engaging of his 
subordinates and be held strictly responsible for them. 
No other arrangement is fair to him or to them. 

Of the essential qualifications of a coachman, skill in 
driving naturally ranks high, but probably not more so than 
ability to keep his charges in condition, his equipages, equip- 
ments, stable, etc., in order, and himself and his subordinates 
presentable and up to their duties. "Skill" in driving may 
vary vastly with the conditions of the service: your staid 
old family coachman may be as genuinely capable, in his 
way, as your flash performer, who swings his victoria or smart 
brougham in and out of traffic, a finger's breadth from 
everything, and never making a mistake — just not grazing 
countless vehicles which steady old " John " would evade by 
never less than three feet. Neither have accidents, yet one 
may be as skilful as the other — so that perhaps " skill, " in 
the ordinary acceptance of the term, is ranked higher than 
necessary. Again, the coachman in a small place need by no 
means be as apt as he who is head man in a large establish- 
ment, yet so far as ability goes each is competent to the 
tasks allotted; and what more can one ask of any man? 

Good personal appearance is most essential — not espe- 
cially that of face, but always that of figure. Liveries never 
can look well upon a round-backed, narrow-shouldered, pot- 
bellied nondescript, and servants shotdd always be at least 
presentable, be their personal failings what they may. " No 
man is a hero to his valet," and no servant is a model to his 
employer, but the outside world need not know of the short- 
comings which they do not behold; of those visible, however, 
we shall do our reputation harm if we elect to be repre- 
sented by the slouchy and unkempt. 



SERVANTS, ETC. 

Another frequently disregarded detail is the matter of 
harmony between the appearance of coachman and the 
vehicle, horses, etc., he is employed to engineer. A family 
landau or heavy, old extension "brougham" demands, for 
completeness's sake, that size and bulk both in servant and 
horseflesh which wovdd be entirely out of place in connection 
with the light victoria or smart bachelor's brougham; while 
the servants appropriate to the latter appear sadly out of 
line in connection with the former. The employer, if keeping 
only one man, should make up his mind as to the style of 
equipage he means to maintain, and engage his servant with 
those points in view; thus, if he selects the heavy landau, etc., 
the only vehicles which he can with propriety drive himself 
are the full-mail, phaeton, and the dog-cart, which his large 
horses and robust servant will match — nor should he ever 
commit the solecism of appearing in a "spider" with two 
huge carriage horses toiling in front and a two-hundred- 
pound man behind, settling everything "by the stem." 
Appropriateness in such details has rarely received much 
consideration either from the public or at our shows. 

Punctuality, sobriety and neatness are of course essen- 
tial, as is that eternal attention to the little things, the uncon- 
sidered trifles — which make all the difference in the appear- 
ance and actualities of service. Such a man must be a good 
handler of his subordinates — competent to know work well 
done and to decide what a fair task constitutes. He should 
invariably be allowed to engage his underlings, and no order 
should ever be given in the stable except through him; this 
is his right, and must be respected if best results are expected. 
If he " shoulders" a little on wages — i. e., hires his men for a 
bit less than you pay, overlook it so long as service is satis- 
factory — there are bound to be perquisites in all trades, 



DRIVING 

and, if successful, you have had some pickings yourself in 
your own business. Therefore, why expect an employee to 
follow an example which you have not set, or to desire a 
servant to surpass you in morality? 

Undoubtedly employers make mistakes in striving always 
to obtain coachmen who have been head men with others 
and who are therefore presumably competent to relieve their 
masters of all care as to stable details. Such men are treas- 
ures if procurable, but, as in every other pursuit, it is only by 
the merest chance that such a servant is ever out of work for 
longer than it takes him to move his trunks from his past to 
his future master. There are plenty of men with flowery 
titles, with resplendent clothing, florid recommendations 
and unlimited " experiences" (as had their former employers), 
who are always out of work and always eager for a new place, 
which they make last until they have "put in" as many new 
horses, carriages, etc., as the new employers will "stand 
for," when presto! "I'm leaving a- Monday, sir; will you 
please to suit yourself with another man," and Montmorency 
vanishes into that past which is filled by him and his ilk with 
bitter recollections and experiences. The second men, or 
imder-coachmen, from any good establishment are always to 
be preferred — they know their business or they would not 
be there ; they will be doubly anxious to please and to prove 
their ability in a place where they have, for the first time, 
full swing; they are young, and they have at least the merits 
of neatness, punctuality and carefulness. All such a man 
needs is a chance, and unwise indeed are you not to give it 
to him. He knows the routine of his work, and as to the 
stable — care of horses, etc. — that is not one of the Eleusinian 
mysteries; and probably, even if he really knows nothing 
of such details, he is as genuinely competent as his former 

iS6 



SERVANTS, ETC. 

superior, whom he, as a subordinate, was too pohtic to impugn, 
who concealed his ignorance tinder a mysterious air of owHsh 
wisdom, bustUng of demeanour, and hinting at humours and 
" indispositions," to the resultant mystifying and awe-inspiring 
of his employer. Experience will make the newly elevated 
competent in such stable instabilities as are physically 
occurrent, and there is, nowadays, a veterinary around every 
comer who can always set right any serious or alarming 
complications. 

We send our cooks to cooking-schools and buy them 
costly books upon the subject; our maids are carefully 
instructed, and we worry lest a fifty-dollar bit of bric-a-brac 
may some day, through the hustling of a heedless feather 
duster, reach an lontimely end; yet we turn our stable of $2,000 
pairs of horses, $2,500 carriages, valuable harnesses, etc., 
without a tremour or a qualm over to some " hawbuck" fresh 
from the quarterdeck of an express wagon, or a dump-cart, 
and whose only previous " four-in-hand " place has been that 
with "three cows and a goat," and trust our families to his 
mercies, abide absolutely by his decisions as to soundness 
and fitness for work (or needfulness for sale), accept as 
gospel his (possibly purchased) gilt-edged recommendations, 
and when he has finally landed the family in the hospital, the 
horses in the offal wagon and the carriages in the repair shop, 
heave a regretfully patient sigh, bashfully give him his 
walking ticket (with an extra month's wages as a sweetener), 
and next day engage his twin brother (so far as ability goes) , 
generally all because this kind can be had at about $60 per 
month and a strictly first-class man would cost $100. Of 
all the tomfool economies practised by the average man, that 
of cheap servants is the most idiotic and most expensive. 
We say we " can't afford to pay the best," but really we " can't 

157 



DRIVING 

afford " to keep any others, if we would only figure things at 
their proper ratio. What does your $i6 cook cost extra per 
month in the way of burnt, half-cooked, unappetising food? 
What does your $io maid come to in bad breaks among the 
crockery and china, and "bad breaks" at the front door and 
at the domestic board? What does your cheap gardener 
do to lawn and flowers ? What happens to your stable when 
your $60 man has disported himself there for awhile and 
made trash of everything, from furnishings to furniture? 
Better and wiser far a first-class man and the cheap horses, 
second-hand carriages, etc., which his skill will condition and 
so present that they will appear far better than they are, 
than the deckhand whose whole outfit is always at sixes 
and sevens; who is never punctual, nor smart, nor clean, nor 
capable, nor worth having at any price. 

The thorough coachman skimps no part of his duties in- 
doors or out. Up early winter and summer, his doors and 
windows are opened and a wisp of hay given to each horse by 
5:30. While they pick this handful over he "mucks out," 
changes bedding and partly sets fair. At six they receive 
the water of which the bit of hay already fed will cause them 
to drink deeply (a thing they will not always do if watered 
first, because of expecting the grain feed which is to follow, 
and because the pangs of appetite are keener than those of 
thirst). No horse can do well that does not drink frequently 
and deeply. Grain follows the water, horses are cleaned, 
night blankets (if used) aired, head-collars changed, and by 
eight o'clock or nine in very large stables all is done, mats 
down, and everything "set fair," the inmates ready for 
orders, or to be "let up," or exercised according to needs. 
Such a man's carriages are always in order, never damp or 
mouldy inside, clean as to axles and arms ; tops fresh and prop- 

1S8 



SERVANTS, ETC. 

erly attended, robes clean, well folded, and never musty of 
smell; harness, steels and brass clean, properly and pictur- 
esquely arranged. His floors everywhere are always neat, the 
corners and ceilings betraying neither dust nor cobwebs. 
His horses show no alarm at handling, there is no springing 
forward in the stalls, no nmning back when approached from 
in front; no voice is ever heard in anger, and no plungings 
proclaim correction via the pitchfork handle. Everything 
is prompt, clean, quiet, orderly and systematic, and the pro- 
cedtires appear almost effortless, so smoothly do they glide 
along. Carriages ordered are always ready and waiting well 
in advance of the hour named— for to be "ready to the 
moment" is not good enough in a coachman — he must be 
ready well in advance of the moment, for while, if wanted 
later, he can always " stand and wait " (as that is his business), 
the other alternative is that he may be, for some reason, 
suddenly needed a bit ahead of time, and it is one of his 
duties to anticipate and to be ready for this very occurrence. 
That perquisites and commissions are so universally 
exacted by coachmen is the employer's faiilt, and he will not, 
as a rule, take the steps necessary to free himself from the 
financial burden he has chosen to incur. Servants are but 
human, and if employers will insist tipon suiting "John" in 
the matter of the selection of horses, carriages and what not, 
"John" is pretty certain to turn his responsibility in the 
case to financial account, and to exact a satisfactory cash 
equivalent from somebody — this unknown quantity being 
invariably the callow master. Better far to call "John" into 
your sanctum, assume your most pretematurally sagacious 
air, fortified by whatever moral or liquid stimulant seems 
necessary to the case, and address your henchman thus: 
"'John,' you enter my employ to-day, and I place in your 



DRIVING 

hands all my horses, carriages, etc., over which you have 
control, as over the subordinates employed by you. I am 
informed by my veterinary and by my carriage-maker that 
everything is in first-class order, and ready for usage such 
as I and my family require. I find by investigation that the 

average expenses of my establishment for the past years 

have been dollars per month in affording me the service 

I require. I am ready to continue to equal this average, but 
if you decrease it, fifty per cent, of the amount saved shall 
be yours; if you exceed it, you must go. I shall buy such 
fresh horses, etc., as to me seem needful, and upon all such 
purchases I shall pay you ten per cent, of the cost price; 
upon all sales, the same amount. If I detect you in exacting 
any commissions, I v/ill not only instantly discharge you 
and withhold your recommendations, but also prosecute you 
criminally; and I warn you that, as in the case of any 
employee of my business, I mean to have you watched. I, 
however, in closing, appeal to your honour, as I believe you 
to be an honest and reliable man, and urge you to carefully 
consider whether the arrangements I offer you voluntarily 
are not better than those you may make with any dealer, not 
only in amount, but in view of the fact that in one instance 
it is money freely given by me, and in the other it is stolen 
from me. Think this well over, 'John,' and let us understand 
and respect each other not only as master and servant, but 
as man and man." "John's" internal economy is arranged 
on very similar plans to your own, and never imagine that, 
if such an argtmient would have appealed to you in the days 
of your employ eeship, it will not also " touch the spot " in 
"John's" anatomy, provided his recommendations were not 
written simply to get rid of him, and provided his physiog- 
nomy and phrenological outlines appear to endorse what 

1 60 



SERVANTS, ETC. 

that possibly sweet-scented and violet-tinted missive has 
elaborately set forth. 

A similar attention to face and figure shoiold attend any 
selection (with your man's approval) of your grooms and 
helpers. One can never tell what latent talent may suddenly 
develop in such an underling, and, if it does, the setting is 
always ready to the hand ; while if this newly fledged genius be 
a regtilar lumper in appearance, his abilities are but similar to 
those abnormalities which many well-intentioned charities 
have developed — i. e., awakening longings that can never be 
gratified, desires that can never be honestly requited, pro- 
moting abilities which have, when attained, no real market 
value. If a man is known by the company he keeps, so may 
he safely be classed by the servants he employs, and one's 
finger nails, linen and man servant are a better guide to 
character than those not interested in psychological studies 
would imagine. Once you have acquired this desirable raw 
material, see that it has chances to learn, to advance, and 
to develop, either per "John's" connivance, or without. 
You owe it to them, just as your employer owed it to you — 
and he fulfilled his obligations, or you would not be able to 
hand over to "John," et al, the monthly cheque. Manifold 
are our duties to dependents, but in none are we more remiss 
than in giving them that "chance" for which we always 
have longed and the absence of which we have in our own 
case so often lamented. 

Of all the appointments attendant upon horse-keeping, 
that detail which receives least attention and demands 
most is the livery, which by its neatness, cut and elegance 
will offset various shortcomings in other parts of the outfit. 
Nine times out of ten when an equipage impresses one at a 
glance as being somehow and somewhere wanting in com- 



DRIVING 

pleteness, it will be found that this is chargeable to some 
defect in the livery and its accompaniments. By this is not 
meant that garish display or flash details are advised — per 
contra, nothing can be in worse taste than they. Of all 
essentials, fit is the first requisite; second, quietness in colour 
and detail; third, material. A finely fitting livery, though 
of badly chosen colour and cheap material, is more really 
good in appointment than expensive cloth, boots and breeches 
badly made and fitted. 

As to colour, only limited latitude is possible, nor can 
we be said as yet to have acquii-ed the right (in America) to 
any "family colours," badges, crests, etc., since most of our 
families able to maintain carriages have not occupied that 
enjoyable position for more than two generations (or much 
less), and any pretension to such privileges are as totally 
absurd as they are arrogant and ill-bred; and, therefore, 
he who departs from the simple and unpretentious elegance 
which he should desire to display for the sake of uniformity 
stands self-convicted of vulgarity and ignorance, and his 
glittering outfit of crests, cockades, badges, etc., are no 
more his by right than if he had stolen them; nor do they 
signify any personal importance on his part, nor afford any 
proper clue to his ancestry nor to his estates. As the 
knowledge of the niceties attendant upon the private life 
of leisure and wealthy classes becomes more widely dis- 
seminated, these mistaken ideas are likely to be modified, 
and the garbing of our servants in garments accepted as 
correct by those in a position to decide, both in this and other 
countries — always assisted by the tailors who have done 
much to make such elegances acceptable and possible — will 
become as certainly a matter of fact as it is to-day too 
frequently a case of accident. That liveries are, as a rule, 

162 



SERVANTS, ETC. 

badly chosen, ill-made and carelessly donned is usually the 
fault of the master, who will not trouble to inform himself 
of the few details essential to proper costuming, but drives 
blandly about behind or beside servants who proclaim 
him careless and improvident, and one who, be his wealth 
numbered by ever so many figures, is neither conversant with 
nor exacting of the niceties attendant upon the position 
he strives to assume. Nor does the effect of his neglect end 
here; for if he " owes anything to society " at large or at home 
it is that he shall not only maintain visibly the dignity of the 
position which he has assumed or striven to reach, but that 
he shall afford a constant example of correctness, and be, as 
it were, a perpetual living example to the ambitious on " how 
to do things properly. " The carelessness so significant of 
the leisure and the wealthy classes of thirty years ago, 
when if a man had $50,000 a year it was considered indecent 
to spend or to appear to spend more than $5,000 of it, 
greatly retarded all advance and expansion in domestic 
up-to-dateness, and it has been hard for the children 
brought up under such restrictions to really cut loose 
from tradition and example and to place themselves before 
the public as their means allowed and their fancies dictated. 
That they are coming on rapidly is daily and hourly proved, 
not only in our parks and along our roads, but in our 
houses; nor do such innovations savour in the least of 
the snobbish, despite envious assertions to the contrary 
and our own sneaking feeling that such is the case. Our 
army, navy, telegraph messengers, and all employees — even 
oiu" street sweepers — are appropriately and distinctively 
garbed, and in none of these classes is the necessity for 
suitable, elegant and inconspicuous livery more essential 
than in the private servants who, to the world at large, 

163 



DRIVING 

significantly and tinmistakably represent us and our indi- 
vidual tastes and peculiarities. 

For liveries, breeches, boots, etc., then, go to the very 
best tailors — nor can the coat-maker always succeed in the 
manipulation of breeches and vice versa, although for 
trousers (if these are worn) he may do fairly well. Never 
economise on livery — not that, therefore, the most costly 
tailors and their goods should be selected, but that the ready- 
made "hand-me-downs" should never be touched: your 
good servant has certainly the right to expect that you will 
attire him in well-fitting clothes, and nothing will make him 
so satisfied and neat as the consciousness that he is well 
dressed and smart. This may seem a trivial detail, but upon 
these little things — unconsidered trifles — depend the satis- 
factory management of far more important matters than the 
fit of livery coat and the satisfaction of a servant. Good 
material, both in box cloth for overcoat and in broadcloth 
for coat, for leather in breeches, and for material in boots, 
tops, ties, collar, gloves, pin, etc., are the first essentials 
of livery, then a quiet colour free from bizarre frills, 
cords, aguillettes, etc., matching the colour of the box-seat 
covering and harmonising as to colour with the carriage, 
as to buttons, with the trimmings of the harness, and 
these latter monogrammed or initialled if preferred, 
crested or badged if audacious, and preferably slightly 
oval; cloth-covered buttons being used on the black 
coats of mourning or if that neat and unpretentious livery 
is regularly worn. 

While there is always a difference in length between the 
skirts of the coachman's coat and that of the groom, there has 
always seemed no good reason for it, and if a drag is kept 
it means buying another coat, cut groom's length, for the 

164 



SERVANTS, ETC. 

coachman, who then acts as groom. Extra exposure on the 
coachman's part is no' reason for extra length of coat, as robes 
are used in severe weather anyway, and a shght lengthening 
of the one garment and shortening of the other would bring 
the two so near together that they would be practically 
similar; nor is there any reason for difference of cut or make 
— the size and figures of the men should sufficiently indicate 
by contrast the head man. The bell-shaped skirts are 
undoubtedly the smartest, although those straight-cut are 
used. Again, the buttons on the tails behind might as well 
be either six-in-all or four-in-all on both coats, as such 
details are really absurdly immaterial. Practically the only 
difference in the dress of the two servants is length of skirt; 
flap pockets on coachman's coat, none on grooms, and four 
buttons behind — two at waist and two at bottom — for 
coachman, six for groom. Velvet collars on overcoat are 
rather more smart than those made of the coat material; 
all seams on great coats should be strapped ; the collars should 
be sharply pressed and lie fiat and close. The waistcoats 
should be of striped material, and a strip of this material 
may line the coat collar and will be more effective if that is 
the case. Breeches should be of leather, but may, for summer 
wear especially, be of stockinet, made and fitted to a nicety, 
pearl-buttoned, and carefully put on. Trousers may do for 
the country, for wet weather or for night work, but never 
look smart, and are rarely properly pressed and made, the 
material being that of one's regular livery. Boots shoiild 
be of good plain leather, heavy of sole and mahogany of top, 
the pink tinge so generally in use being not so desirable. 
Black cloth tops are always used for mourning. 

Stable clothes may be of any colour of whipcord, but 
very light ones spot easily and do not last as well as the 

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DRIVING 

darker shades. Breeches and leggings (pigskin or cloth) are 
incomparably smarter than trousers, and the customary 
black flat-topped hat with cutaway coat are better than 
the sack coat and round hat — nor need these two for any 
valid reason differ in the case of the coachman and groom. 
Black shoes are essential. Collar, ties, etc., are the same in 
both liveries, and a neat pin rather adds to the finish of the 
tie, these pins, of course, being provided by the master and 
being of a plain sporting cast. Stable clothes go with any 
vehicle appropriate for country use. Gloves should be of 
dogskin and according to weather; mackintoshes of cloth 
finish, very long and roomy. Two hats are needed — one of 
silk for fine and one of cassimere for showery weather. Fiirs 
are comfortable in cold weather, but should always be, if 
worn, of the handsomest, as this is a most conspicuous 
detail and by no means an essential, even in our severest 
weather. The robe must match the men's fur garments 
unless the plain box-cloth is used. 

For a middle-aged or elderly lady's carriage, undoubtedly 
the most elegant, significant and appropriate detail is the 
presence of a house servant or footman in indoor livery 
(wearing a very long great coat in cold weather) upon the 
box in place of the groom — a detail essentially feminine, 
and, when accompanied by the full-dress of complete harness, 
presenting the acme of good taste, a most appreciable token 
of the character of the equipage. This arrangement is not 
frequently seen, but is always welcomed as an exhibition of 
the eternal fitness of things, for the reason that such an 
indoor man is essentially a lady's servant, familiar with her 
wishes, peculiarities, friends, the more intimate details of 
her life, location of shops, etc., and a more necessary part 
of her equipage than the carriage groom, whose usefulness 



SERVANTS, ETC. 

is confined to the mere opening of the door, arranging the 
robe and caUing the carriage. 

Carriage servants should be carefully matched in shape 
(not in height) and in complexion. A long-necked, sloping- 
shouldered, red-headed man should never appear beside a 
high-shouldered, black-visaged one, nor a short, stout man 
beside a long, thin one. Cross-matched pairs may do at a 
pinch before the vehicle, but never on the box, and even 
widely protruding ears are an irritation to any one who is 
obliged to sit and contemplate their fiutterings in the breeze 
during an afternoon's drive. 

The attitude of servants on the box shoiild be easily 
erect, not perched upon the edge of the seat with the heels 
back against the riser in the fashionable " monkey-on-a-stick " 
attitude, but sitting squarely, the waist hollowed, the feet 
falling at right angles to the knees, and not braced away out 
in front as if rowing a boat (an attitude invariably finally 
accompanied by round shoulders, heavy hands and general 
slouchiness). As any one may prove by trial, the attitude 
has great effect upon the lightness of the hands, and he 
who sits up and "over" his horses finds at once a 
suppleness of wrist and a lightness of touch which have 
hitherto been foreign to his manipulation. 



167 



CHAPTER XVII 

EQUIPMENT, MAINTENANCE, MANAGEMENT AND CONSTRUCTION 
OF A PRIVATE STABLE 

Opinions differ vastly as to what constitutes the essen- 
tials of stable equipment and as to what is proper in the way 
of discipline and management. One owner will be satisfied 
with merely getting more or less prompt service, and neglect 
utterly even to visit his stable, and to thus give his servants 
that incentive to keep things in shape and the place smart and 
tidy which the regular presence of the proprietor, and pos- 
sibly of his family or friends, insures. Any servant who is 
worth his salt will take pride in his work and in his master's 
supervision of it; failing that interest, he will feel that he is 
foolish to work simply for his own satisfaction, and will begin 
to " skimp " and to neglect everything. A proprietor should 
for his own interests simulate an interest even though he 
feels it not, and should appreciate that he owes it to his 
animals as much as to his family to "keep house" properly. 
Didl coats on the horses, shabby carriages, dirty harness and 
rusty livery are a direct reflection on the proprietor, and if 
he fails in regard to himself and his belongings, how can he 
expect a servant to respect him or his property ? 

All the necessaries in the way of eqtiipment should be 
willingly provided, but a halt should be called if the bills 
show a long array of articles neither useful nor actually need- 
ful. Such acco\ints often reach prodigious lengths. Your 
horses will need (per horse) a day head-collar (best of heavy 
leather, brass-buckled), a cheap night-halter, day-blankets 

169 



DRIVING 

and sheets, according to weather; cheap but warm night- 
clothing (and, by the way, this shoiild always be loosely 
confined, that the surcingle may not gall the backbone nor 
uncomfortably compress the chest). Too tight girthing 
prevents many a horse from lying down at all, and grooms 
are prone to pull up the straps very tight. Drinking buckets, 
one to two or three horses, unless kept in stall as they always 
should be ; pails for washing, a tub and foot- tub, forks, brooms, 
shovel, stall-cleaner, basket, currycomb, body-brush, dandy- 
brush, rubbers, hoof-pick, sponge, soap — one full set to each 
man, and he made personally responsible for it — mane-brush 
and comb, shears; bandages (flannel), a set to each horse, 
and a set or two of linen at hand. These may be made at 
home for a few cents each, if the raw materials are bought, 
instead of costing $1.50 the set. Pillar reins can be also 
home-made, if the cord and snaps are bought, for about 
twenty cents the set. A cheap hood is handy in case of 
sickness or for sending a clipped horse to the smith's, but 
by no means essential, and the same may be said of 
knee-caps. 

The carriage-house will need shaft-supporters if two- 
wheeled vehicles are kept, and pole-racks, robe-racks and a 
good stove. The wash-stand needs hose (best suspended 
from the ceiling by a patent overhead sprinkler, which saves 
much wear and swings out of the way when idle), buckets, 
carriage-jack, step-ladder, hose and bracket, sponges and 
rack, chamios, feather duster, whiskbroom, rubber wash- 
apron and boots, soft soap, turpentine for removing wheel- 
grease, grease, etc. A box will answer for sponges; the 
hose-bracket may be home-made. A can of japan and a 
paint brush should always be at hand to touch up carriage 
steps, etc. 

170 



I 



PRIVATE STABLES 

For harness-room one needs a mirror, harness brackets 
and saddle brackets; "compo" and crest brushes, black 
(and ordinary) chamois, beeswax and harness dye, neat's-foot 
oil and lampblack, sand for steels, soap, polish, harness ' 
paste, saddle paste, harness cleaning-hook, burnisher, harness 
punch, stove and boiler if hot water is not otherwise obtain- 
able and the room not otherwise heated, in order that men 
may be comfortable. 

For the livery one requires boot-trees, boot and hat 
brushes and whisk, blacking, breeches paste, breeches trees, 
button plate. City stables will be perfectly lighted or can 
readily be made so. In the country, if lanterns are the 
dependence for night work, it will be found convenient to 
stretch a wire down the length of the runway behind the stalls 
and hang upon it several S hooks made of wire. The over- 
head wire should be within reach (say seven feet) and run 
near the wall. A man may thus hang a lantern on the hook 
and push it along as he goes from stall to stall, avoiding all 
risk of upsetting it by leaving it on the floor. The same 
arrangement in the carriage-house will be found effective. 
The large reflector-lamps generally used give a good light, 
but cast it only in one direction. 

Grain-bins and hay-chutes will of course be large and easy 
of access. A mixing-tub for cut-feed or bran mashes, a hay- 
cutter, oat-sieve, etc., are necessary. 

Economy goes hand in hand with order, system and 
cleanliness, and all stable work should proceed along a regular 
routine, certain hours being, as far as possible, allotted to 
special tasks. In this matter the master must lend a con- 
siderate hand and see that his orders do not cause a derange- 
ment of methods which are in regular operation. Orders 
should be given in time, not only for their reasonable fulfil- 



DRIVING 

ment, but so that the feeding hours may not be seriously- 
interfered with. Horses are dependent upon their meals at 
regular intervals, and while they will welcome anticipation of 
these periods, they will not quietly bear the reverse, and their 
condition cannot long maintain if this detail is neglected. 
Everything, from the morning watering to the night feeding, 
should progress along regular lines and at regular hours, and 
the master should be able to know at just what tasks he will 
find his men employed if he visits the stable at a given time. 
Order should be the rule, from the cleanly swept carriage- 
room to the tidy loft, from the squarely placed doormat to 
the carefully ordered medicine shelf. Every tool should be 
in place — the cleaning-tools in their case or basket and on their 
shelf; the brooms, forks, etc., hanging up on nails, the pails 
set carefully in place; the harness-room clean swept, and all 
tools not in use on their shelves, all sponges, chamois, etc., 
wrtmg out and put away. Every least thing should have its 
place, and " any old place " is worse than none. Closets are 
undesirable, as they are not apt to be kept tidy, but an open 
shelf has no secrets. The windows should be spotless, the 
floors ditto, all nooks and angles swept and dusted, and a 
cobweb impossible to find. There is no excuse for any odovir 
save that of some healthful disinfectant, whether the stable 
holds one horse or one hundred. At least once in ten days 
the whole place should be turned out, washed down, and 
cleaned through — stairs, drains, comers, shelves, etc. 
"Windows are made to open, and should be kept so as much as 
possible. All pails, cloths, etc., should be as sweet and clean 
as soap and water can make them. As there should be a 
place for everything and a time for each operation, so should 
there be in force a regular method of procedure about even 
the most trifling duties, and a task once begun should be 



PRIVATE STABLES 

completed, and not left half done. Nothing looks worse than 
to see a floor half swept when the man starts to wash the 
carriage, the broom, etc., meanwhile standing about out of 
place, a few bandages hung out to dry while others soak, a 
horse half cleaned and left while some other job is begun, 
the general result being that everything is slurred over. 
From "setting fair" to locking up, every detail follows in 
regular course and nothing should be hurried, nor should your 
men be allowed to work in dirty trousers and shirts — at 
least, after the stable is "set fair." Any extra expense for 
outfit or for laundry will be trifling, and should naturally 
be borne by you. The cleaning of a horse, carriage or harness 
demands definite consecutive operations, and you should 
familiarise yourself with them enough to know not only how 
they should be done, but what time shoiild be allowed to do 
them. Thus, to properly dress a horse will take, if a man 
"keeps going," twenty-five minutes; to wash a brougham 
or similar vehicle, about the same time — metal furniture, 
glass polishing and other final touches, about fifteen minutes 
more. An ordinary brougham single harness will demand 
about the same time — so that, roughly speaking, an hour 
and a half should suffice to finish these operations for a single 
equipage, there remaining boots to polish, breeches to 
pipe-clay, etc., and livery buttons to shine. One man will 
capably attend to three horses and the usual vehicles kept for 
them ; if more are kept, one helper will suffice unless eight are 
used, when work will exist for two assistants. Of course, 
if a groom is needed for the box, when only a pair are kept, 
one may be employed, but not economically, as a house 
servant may perfectly well — in a lady's open carriage most 
appropriately — combine this with his indoor duties. 

Taking one year with another, the average expense of a 



DRIVING 

horse's yearly keep, less the cost of stabling and wages, will 
be about $250, which includes only food, shoeing, etc. 

Carriages and harness will last about three years before 
they, under ordinary usage, need repairing or replacing. 
This, of course, contemplates first-class care and prompt 
attention always; constant inspection of bolts, nuts, rivets 
and stitching, that repairs may not be delayed. Of course, 
if they are constantly on the go and in all weathers they will 
not retain their fresh appearance as long, and two years, or 
even two seasons, may put them in a most shabby condition. 
It is an excellent plan to arrange with a carriage-maker not 
only to attend to the wheels for all your carriages, but also to 
inspect them at least monthly, and his guarantee of efficiency 
is worth all it will cost you by yearly contract. 

The last economy practised should be that of wages — by 
which is meant that one cannot pay a good man too much, 
while a poor one is dear at any price. Sixty dollars, if a man 
boards himself and is sober and competent, is cheap ; anything 
less is unwholesomely so, and he who pretends to be satisfied 
with it is looking to perquisites of some or of all kinds to 
make up the deficiency. As these come out of your pocket 
in the long run, you had much better pay a man a living 
wage, and then perhaps he will treat you with more leniency 
in such respects. Better far an excellent servant and various 
makeshifts in the vehicles and equine line than a "lumper" 
and the finest outfit that money can buy. In the first case 
you will at all events get good if not especially ornamental 
service; in the second you will be lucky to escape without 
heavy expenses, damage suits, coroners' inquests (possibly 
on yourself), and many indurations of temper and of varnish. 

To preserve your animals always in health the services of 
a veterinary will be occasionally needed, and as these are 



PRIVATE STABLES 

always at hand nowadays your man should distinctly under- 
stand that any attempt by him to treat an ailing horse, 
albeit successfully, will result in his immediate discharge. 
This is summary, but wholesome, for in the first place he 
cannot possibly really know very much about either symp- 
toms or treatment, and, in the second, you do not hire him 
for such work; or, if he is really competent, you are cheating 
him of his due, no matter what wages you pay him. Such 
responsibilities are not properly his, and he is foolish to 
assiune them, and you are also if you permit him to do so. 
If one of your own family is sick you forthwith summon your 
physician and procure the best skill within reach; for your 
pocket's sake, at least, do the same with your horse. 

If you are compelled to occupy, as most of us are, leased 
stabling, you will be obliged to put up with much imprac- 
tical construction. At least, however, you can secure air 
in reasonable quantity. If you cannot induce your man to 
leave the windows open, send for a carpenter and have them 
taken out, making all safe from entry by means of iron bars 
if necessary. The dampest and most unwholesome stabling 
may be made safe and sanitary if air and sun are freely 
admitted. All our stabling arrangements have been adopted 
unchanged from those of other countries, whereas, since 
almost tropical heat prevails here at times, we should prepare 
for it. To this end all stall partitions should be slatted, and 
all such divisions be movable instead of permanent, both 
on account of cleanliness, because stalls and boxes are thus 
readily interchangeable, and because room may thus be 
afforded for other purposes. What a curious custom is that 
which induces an owner or landlord to construct a " six-stall " 
or a " ten-stall " or a " one-stall " stable ! Why not so arrange 
matters that stalls may be put up anywhere — or nearly all 



DRIVING 

cleared away? Thus your "six-stall" could accommodate 
at will either twelve or fourteen saddle horses, or four horses 
and many carriages, according to demand — and so with all 
such buildings. 



176 



CHAPTER XVIII 

FEEDING, GROOMING, SHOEING, ETC. 

The acquirement and preservation of health in the 
horse under the conditions attendant upon his use by civihsed 
man depend upon the proper performance of the acts of feed- 
ing, grooming and exercise. As the old saying runs, "The 
good of a horse goes in at his mouth," and that this is, broadly 
speaking, very true is proved by the fact that the beast of 
moderate class will, if tended in first-rate fashion, approach 
more nearly the abilities of excellence than that other which 
is, however good in himself, ill-cared for. 

By proper feeding is not meant the mere setting before 
the animal thrice daily of a bunch of hay and a feed of oats, 
relieved occasionally by a bran mash. This ration, however 
ample in quantity and excellent in quality, is cloying from 
the endless repetition so usual with the average horse-keeper; 
and while it assuages the pangs of hunger, it fails through 
lack of relish to nourish as it should. Condition falls away, 
the horse shrinks in flesh and grows dull, while his coat is as 
lifeless as his eye, the indigestion which accompanies this 
condition being as much an effect as a cause. 

Not only is it needful that the diet should vary in taste, 
smell and appearance, but it must be modified according to 
the work and increased or diminished as necessary. Atten- 
tion must also be paid to the relation between hours of feeding 
and exercise, and matters so arranged that neither the pangs 
of an empty stomach, nor the discomfort and danger ensuing 
from work performed upon a full one, have long or often to 

177 



DRIVING 

be endured. Of the two, the evils of abstinence are the least 
by far, as it entails no dangerous sequels in the way of colic, 
or of broken wind from ruptured air-cells in the lungs 
caused by the pressure upon them of the diaphragm when 
at fast work. 

The hours of feeding, as arranged in the ordinary private 
or public stable, are, for the best welfare of the horse, 
separated by too long intervals of time, and he accordingly 
is likely to suffer in health and consequently in condition. 
The hours of six, twelve and six leave a long period between 
feeds, and the animal's stomach is small, his assimilation 
rapid. A further subdivision is best but not generally 
convenient, and consequently the hours of the two late meals 
are apt to vary considerably. Six, eleven, two and seven 
make better meal hours, dividing the noon feed into two. 
In private stables the horses are in summer frequently not 
ordered before five o'clock or even later, and in winter the 
shopping tours of the morning are likely to keep the carriage 
out until about lunch time — one to one thirty — so that it is 
often two o'clock before the second feed can be eaten. A 
first-class coachman will allow for and make up for these 
irregular meals, but the average man does not bother about 
it, as his charges show. A late feed, at nine or ten o'clock, 
is very acceptable to shy feeders, and many of these make 
their principal meal at night, when all is still and their 
nervousness is allayed. 

The quantity of feed is usually ample, its quality generally 
of the best, but there is too much sameness of provender — ■ 
too little attention given to tempting the appetite, to varying 
the flavour, and to regtilating the supply to the demand, 
the food to the work. If all were hearty " doers, " and 
if the hours of work were regular, results would not be so 

178 



FEEDING, GROOMING, SHOEING, ETC. 

bad; but, as a matter of fact, many of the nervous, fussy 
horses are, when properly handled, the very best and most 
enduring, well worth the extra time and trouble necessary 
to keep up their condition and to cater to their preferences. 

The essentials of feeding are good materials, regularly 
offered and cleared away, placed in sweet and clean recep- 
tacles, variously flavoured, and temptingly blended. 

As a basis of all equine rations, hay deserves first 
consideration. An average horse will consume about twelve 
pounds of hay daily, the larger feeding being at night. A 
handftd at the noonday meal, if the animal is not to be used 
at fast work for an hour or two, rather assists digestion by 
distending the stomach, and is a welcome addition to that 
meal. Timothy hay of the coarsest fiber is insisted upon 
by most purchasers, not for any known reason, but because 
they have been instructed that such fodder is the best for 
working horses. That this is correct of the race-horse and 
the trotter in training is true, as such hay is intended merely 
as a backgrotmd for the grain, which is the mainstay. Some 
years ago all hay for such horses was piilled through (often 
very dirty) hands to remove all leaves and allow only the 
woody stalks to remain, but as horses are not as fine-drawn 
now as then, more sensible methods prevail in other ways 
and the animals are allowed practically all they will eat of 
hay or anything else. Excessive demand for this coarse 
hay has put the price up to a prohibitive extent, and as there 
are many of the finer and clover-mixed kinds much more 
nourishing and very much cheaper, horse-keepers will do 
well to experiment, and will derive great satisfaction from 
many of the less expensive mixed kinds, gaining in flavour, 
saving in price, and helping in subsequent condition. Some 
of these, as the clover-mixed, are apt to be dusty, but a 



DRIVING 

slight sprinkling with water allays that objection, while the 
use of the appetising ingredients recommended further on 
render even quite poor grades perfectly acceptable, wholesome 
and useful. Such economies may not with one or two horses 
seem worth while, but where a number are kept the saving 
is very handsome. The finer kinds contain, besides timothy, 
red top, clover, June-grass, blue-grass, sainfoin, and various 
other herbs and grasses, and, given an equally well-cured 
bunch of each, animals always prefer the fine to the coarse, 
which is nearly pure timothy. No hay is so underestimated 
as clover, and none is so nourishing and wholesome. We 
hear much about the "Kentucky blue-grass" and nothing 
at all about Kentucky clover; yet, if any stock farm in that 
region is visited, the bams will be found crammed to the 
roofs with clear clover hay — nothing else — and that succulent 
fodder it is which develops the excellent horses which come 
from the blue-grass as from all the other western States. 
Green or cured (cut-feed or long) clover deserves the title 
of queen of the grasses, while timothy, save for its bulk, is 
not especially valuable. This is directly contrary to all 
accepted practice and theory, but is open to demonstration 
by any one who takes sufficient interest in his dumb 
dependents to experiment for their welfare. 

Oats are as staple as hay, and here again we are in the 
habit of placing too much dependence upon the best white 
grain and overlooking the poorer grades or the blended, 
which sell cheaper and are equally as usefiol for horses dtuing 
the average work of private stables. Boiled, steamed, 
flavoured, in oatmeal, etc., there are various methods 
of feeding which the average groom never troubles his head 
about, but keeps on with the old routine until condition 
vanishes and either he or his charge is replaced. 



FEEDING, GROOMING, SHOEING, ETC. 

Com is little valued in the East, yet is, partictdarly in 
cold weather, a most usefiil food, especially when fed on the 
ear, which prevents a greedy feeder from bolting it whole. 
It is a very strong, fattening food, and western-raised horses 
will eat it when all else proves distasteful. The cracked com 
of commerce is a useful addition as a change in or as part of 
a ration, and either it or the ear com may to advantage be 
soaked for twelve hours before feeding. Corn-meal is used 
with cut feed, and for horses at slow work, when combined 
with oatmeal in proportion of one to two, makes an excellent 
feed, providing precautions are taken to keep the animal's 
stomach sweet. 

Bran, middlings, etc., may well be blended with every 
feed, either dry or as a mash, and a handful or two will, when 
fed dry, restrain a glutton. There is nowadays, thanks to 
improved milling machinery, but little if any nourishment 
in these articles, but they assist a healthy condition of the 
stomach and bowels, and therein find their chief use. Bran 
mashes, properly made, thoroughly steamed and containing 
flaxseed jelly, sugar, molasses, etc., are most fragrant 
and appetising, and five quarts or more of such a mash 
should be the portion of every horse on Saturday nights, 
or if, for any reason, he is to be idle for a few days. 

Flaxseed jelly made by pouring boiling water upon the 
whole seed is most valuable, and a half-pint of the jelly 
twice or thrice weekly promotes a blooming coat and is 
very appetising and nourishing. A properly made bran- 
and-flaxseed mash smells good enough to tempt a htrnian 
being. 

Of condiments to stimulate appetite and to promote 
flesh, molasses (the cheapest black kind), brown sugar, 
salt, ginger, etc., are all valuable. Water sweetened with 



DRIVING 

molasses and sprinkled over hay will insure its consttmp- 
tion to the last stalk, while the same treatment to grain 
will cause it to be greedily eaten. Roots, as carrots, etc., 
are useful to give a fillip to the appetite, and almost any 
kind but potatoes will be freely eaten; while apples, etc., 
sliced up in a quart of oats for a dainty feeder, will bring his 
nose to the manger. A daily handful or two of grass in 
season, or a few moments' picking at pasture, are especially 
useful when a horse has long been kept in the city; and 
a sod, if placed in the stall, will be consumed, roots, dirt and 
all. Salt is a necessity, and a block of it should be always 
within reach in the stall, that the animal may take what his 
system demands. This is better than the mingling of common 
or of Glauber salts with the meals in a haphazard fashion. 

If cut-feed is regularly fed, condition will not long 
obtain unless precautions are taken to keep the stomach 
sweet, for this material quickly ferments. The following 
should be used a tablespoonful to each feed: 

Bicarbonate of soda I 

Gentian >• equal parts 

Powdered ginger j 

The chaff should always be cut very short, and the mixture 
stand for several hours before feeding. 

"Water copiously, and have it always at hand. No 
horse can hold or gain flesh, do well or be well if he is not a 
large and frequent drinker. Especially late at night does 
thirst overpower him, when he has stowed away a large 
meal of dry hay and grain; yet, as ordinarily kept, he has 
no relief in sight until six or seven next day. A handful of 
hay the very first thing in the morning will make horses drink 
deeply and thus clear the way for their first grain feed. 
" Hay tea." made bv pouring boiling water on cut hay. 



FEEDING, GROOMING, SHOEING, ETC. 

steeping it and using the fluid, is most nourishing, especially 
to bad feeders, and such an animal, which would turn faint 
at the sight of two quarts of grain, will drink eight quarts 
of "tea," containing the essence of eight poiinds of hay, and 
a pint of flaxseed jelly — quite a square meal. For old 
horses also this "tea" is very valuable, and for those which 
it is desired to fatten quickly. 

Bedding shoiold be of straw, and here again "handsome " 
wheat or oat straw may often be fotmd nearly as good as 
rye and not one-third as costly. Peat moss is much used, 
but any material which retains the fluids cannot be health- 
ful, the same fact applying to sawdust, shavings, etc. 
The bed should be deep, well laid up on the sides, and 
frequently renewed, care being taken that the portion under 
the animal's forefeet and nose is clean and sweet, not reeking 
with filth, as often arranged. Economy in bedding is poor 
policy and an injustice to a hard-working beast, while proper 
rest has much to do with the preservation of condition. 

Regarding true condition, we have rather grown of late 
into accepting or demanding for it a false appearance. This 
has come about through the omnipresent horse-show, where 
over-fattened contestants caper for a few moments con- 
spicuously before the public and cause us to accept their 
overfull outlines as the indication of perfect bodily order 
for hard, fast and long-continued work. In this we are 
generally wrong, and experiment will prove that the crest 
is not to be kept up, the belly down, the quarters plump and 
full, if steady, hard work is to be done, but that this obesity, 
catering to a diseased taste, is but transient, and as deceptive 
to the eye as to the hand, trying to the feet and legs, clogging 
to the vitals, the muscles and the externals, and masking 
under the imposition of copious fat bodily imperfections 

183 



DRIVING 

which are not infrequently excessive. The average show 
horse is at least twenty per cent, too bulky to perform active 
labour with ease or safety to himself, and the average 
owner who demands steady work from his stable will find 
this to be true. 

Condition is to be attained and maintained only by 
a judicious combination of feeding, strapping and exercise. 
Not one of the three alone will insure it, nor will any two, 
but a judicious blending of the whole is essential, and that 
every day, week and month. Condition is simply the 
maintaining of the animal in a state of physical vigour and 
muscvilar development adequate to the work he is called 
upon to perform, and as he is gradually brought up to that 
point, so should he be gently " eased away " if from any 
cause his labours are to cease or to become intermittent. 
Thus his food should be graduated always to the task — 
extra amount for extra work, less for easier. 

Grooming need not be considered in detail, but it should 
be a regular massage — not too much of the bruising, battering, 
slam-bang style of strapping so much in fashion with the 
old school of hissing grooms, who belaboured their charges 
with " swipe " and twist as if trying to stave in their ribs, but 
a quiet, gentle cleansing, not only by brush, comb and 
wisp, but by soap and water as well — for the bath is as 
soothing and grateful to the quadruped as to the biped. A 
good shampoo with soap and water, a quick scrape and a 
rub-out never hiu-t any horse yet, and his condition is all 
the better for it. Either tepid or cold water may be used, 
and, if the animal is very valuable, an alcohol shampoo will 
close the pores effectually. A tired horse, however, should 
never be messed about needlessly, but dryly clothed, 
bandaged loosely, and left alone until rested. The prejudice 

184 



FEEDING, GROOMING, SHOEING, ETC. 

against using water on the legs is not well founded provided 
the heels are dried. What is there against the copious use 
of water internally or externally that causes horse-keepers to 
allow it so sparingly ? A man in training ptills off his reeking 
sweater and plunges into (and out of) cold water, all the 
better for the reaction — and the same effect is by similar 
treatment produced upon the horse. You drink ice-water 
when hot — why must not your steed absorb a few quarts of 
fluid until he has cooled out, being meanwhile nearly wild 
with thirst? In what do you differ? Give your horse all 
the water he needs, so long as it is not colder than the air 
and his circulation and respiration are regular; bathe him 
freely, but dry him properly. At pasture the rains soak 
him for hours to no detriment. If you by yotir fostering ( ?) 
care have brought him to such a pass that he cannot bear a 
little exposure, your policy in regard to him is all wrong 
and should be changed. A horse is meant to resist exposure : 
it is good for him and natural to him, and you should see 
that he gets it. 

To say that shoeing has any bearing upon the condition 
of the body sounds radical, yet reflection will convince one 
that, even as a supposition, it need not be contrary to fact. 
Anything that effects comfort and ease, affects condition, 
and the fit and set of shoes have much to do with the matter. 
Scientific shoeing is now so general, and special necessities 
receive such able and prompt attention from smiths, that 
there is no excuse for other than perfect fit and perfect feet. 
Special attention should be paid to the fact that the feet 
perspire, and no blacking or other nasty messes should ever 
be allowed to clog their pores and disfigure their natural 
beauty ; nor should the rasp ever touch the delicate and glossy 
covering, as is so generally allowed. A wipe over with a damp 

i8s 



DRIVING 

sponge is all that is ever necessary, and the blackened or 
greased hoof is covered with dust before the horse has taken 
ten steps outside. In the same way, nothing but water 
should touch the sole, and a wet sponge confined therein by a 
bit of steel is better far than all the stoppings so popular with 
grooms; while wet swabs tied around the coronet afford 
moisture enough to keep the feet healthily growing. As the 
foundation is to the house, so is the foot and its protection to 
the horse, and, far as we have advanced, we are yet too much 
hampered by tradition and by obstinacy to realise the vital 
importance of the proper shoeing and treatment of the feet. 
Beyond a doubt, the Charlier system — whereby the shoe 
is fitted in a narrow groove drawn by a specially made 
instrument in the horn — is most valuable, practical and 
useftd, leaving the entire sole and frog in a state of nature 
and protecting the parts that need it; while, from the very 
narrowness of the shoe, pricking is unlikely and interfering 
usually corrected. To be sure, its application requires a 
good smith, and, equally sure, his bills will decrease. This 
form being discarded, the shoe, which is fiat next the foot 
and concave next the ground, nearly follows the shape of 
the natural ground surface and is very effective. All shoes 
should always be filed smooth on the side next the horn; 
they should fit the foot (not the foot them) ; should be nailed 
with nails well slanted and taking a shallow hold, that the 
holes may be near the ground surface and quickly grow 
down ; the nails should be driven with sundry gentle blows 
rather than two or three whacks; not drawn too tightly; 
neatly filed as to clinches, and these smoothly turned down 
and in; the sole and heels should be untouched; the frog 
ditto; not a tool used for this work, but the rasp to shorten 
the toe and level the walls. The dead sole will slough away 



FEEDING, GROOMING, SHOEING, ETC. 

of itself. The shoe should always be a little "sprung" at 
the heels — just clear of them — that they may expand 
naturally, and not more than five nails should be used. 

Personally, the writer has derived great satisfaction 
from the use of the tip, and even from leaving the feet bare 
when horses were used only over country roads. The tip, 
slight, narrow, and fitting in a groove drawn in the ground 
surface of the toe, so that its bottom just comes below the 
foot, affords really the only protection which the normal 
foot requires, and even that one which has been long used to 
full protection will, if allowed, quickly develop remarkable 
powers of secretion and growth and become a regular slab 
of horn, with a great frog filling out the strong heels and 
quarters, and all bearings falling as nature meant they 
should. Only three nails fasten the tip, and it extends round 
the toe only, the groove in the horn preventing it from 
springing or becoming displaced. For economy and practical 
usefulness there is no better shoe, but, of course, for steady 
work on pavements, or for balancing the fast trotter or the 
high stepper, other fashions of shoeing are necessary. 

The bare foot is perfectly practical in all cases where the 
animal is used in the country, provided his natural foot is 
strong — as it almost invariably is — and that precautions 
are taken to keep the horn growing fast and properly levelled, 
and to lay the horse aside for a day or two if he becomes a 
trifle foot-sore through long journeys or the attrition of 
gravelly roads. Especially in winter is this useftil, and 
no horses ever need shoeing then; nor will the animal so 
treated interfere, over-reach, speedy cut, or have corns, 
quarter-crack, quitters, or any of the ills which feet are heir 
to; and the same advantages obtain as from the use of tips, 
while economy is in both cases greatly augmented. 

.87 



DRIVING 

The rubber pad, now so generally and satisfactorily in 
use upon the feet of all fashionable city carriage horses, etc., 
is most essential wherever the asphalt pavement is in use, 
is a very safe form of foot-covering, and affords a really 
secure foothold over slippery streets. It resembles closely 
the svirface of the natural foot, and is, while as yet expensive, 
thoroughly competent for the task, its one drawback being 
that it is apt to render a horse a little careful in his movements 
if he has weak quarters, as the rubber tends to spread them 
constantly. The pad will be improved when it does not 
entirely cover the sole, as at present the leather contains 
dirt, etc. — inore than is wholesome. There exists a crying 
need for a cheap pad which is within the reach of the poor 
man, if not for daily use, at least in time of emergency, as 
after a sudden rain and freeze — something that can be slipped 
or buckled on and enable him to reach his stable in safety. 
Asphalt pavements seem likely to be universal, and shoes or 
pads must be invented which will render locomotion over 
it safe and easy, although regular and slight sanding will 
greatly help matters. 



i88 



CHAPTER XIX 

STABLING AND STALLS 

Any arrangement of stabling which ignores the fact 
that our American climate is unique in that it combines in 
most localities extreme heat and cold will not afford to the 
owner or the equine occupants the satisfaction it should. 
Thermometric variations from 90° and more above to 10° 
below zero mark a wide range of temperature, and while 
warmth can always be secured by artificial means if neces- 
sary, coolness is not as easily and tmiformly provided. 

Solid and high stall partitions entail much discomfort 
to the occupants in hot weather, since each apartment inter- 
feres with the free circulation of air. If owners would visit 
their stalls upon a steaming July night at about 2 A. m. they 
would be amazed to notice the range of the mercury, the 
quality of the atmosphere and the condition of the horses. 

Slatted stalls, or, better and more economical still, the 
swinging "bails," will allow free circulation to the reclining 
or standing animals, and will maintain a current of air not 
only overhead, but near the floor, which will minimise the 
carbonic gases to the least possible quantity and assist 
hygiene in every way. Probably there is nothing more 
genuinely essential to satisfactory stabling than this generally 
neglected point. 

That the essentials of stabling appeal as directly as they 
might to either owner or architect is rarely the case. Undue 
deference is paid to externals, and the arrangements indoors 
are frequently neither as convenient, as consecutive, nor as 

189 



DRIVING 

wholesome as they might be. Complicated systems of 
drainage and ventilation are never desirable, however 
attractive they may be to building enthusiasts and to 
opvilent proprietors. 

Everything should be practical, inexpensive and com- 
pact, constructed not especially with regard to careful and 
suitable usage, but scaled down to a point where the average 
stable hand can do them no harm, however rampant the 
neglect. 

Firstly, we need exposure of the building suitable for the 
welfare of its equine occupants; secondly, air and light in 
abundance; thirdly, complete and cheap drainage; fourthly, 
freedom from damp, which ample light and air will insure; 
fifthly, convenience of all internal arrangements, and ample 
room for horses, vehicles, etc., and for working about them; 
lastly, accommodations for servants, for hay, grain, etc. 

The apartments for the horses require an exposure that 
shall cause as slight variations as possible in the temperature, 
and for this reason a northern and western outlook, as being 
least affected by the heat of the sun, gives best results. 
Much illness among the occupants can be traced to neglect 
in this particular, and the variations caused by, for instance, 
a southern exposure in the winter months is very great during 
the twenty-four hours. Horses will endure, and be all the 
better for, any amount of cold, if only it be uniform. If the 
stalls must be placed upon the south side, there should be 
awnings or a veranda arranged over the windows upon that 
side, as well to moderate the heat as the glare of the sun. 
The coach-house, on the contrary, needs all the sun it can 
get, that it may be always dry and sweet and the carriages 
easily sunned and aired, as they should frequently be to 
prevent harm to varnish, linings, brasses and steels. 

igo 



STABLING AND STALLS 

Light in the stable will be best arranged if it can come 
from overhead, through skylights or high up in the stalls, 
and in no way can complete ventilation be more certainly 
obtained. No glaring windows, low down, should be per- 
mitted, and if any such must be included they should be in 
the rear of the stalls, or, if at the head, be heavily gray- 
washed, that the blaze of light may be modified as much as 
possible. This is effected by mixing lampblack with white- 
wash to the desired shade. Frequent gas jets or the not more 
costly electricity will give plenty of light at night, and there 
should be no dark comers which cannot be illvmiinated at need. 

Contrive all the ventilation possible for both the carriages 
and the horses, and when this is done strive by every means 
to get more. No stable ever yet had enough air, and the 
nearer we can come to the open atmosphere the better for 
every animate and inanimate thing in the biiilding. Horses 
not only do better, last longer and work more enduringly, 
but those afflicted with trouble in their breathing will be 
different creatures if thus humanely kept. The skylight 
advocated over the gangway behind the stalls should 
have its sashes arranged to swing or lower by means of pul- 
leys, and even if these are tight-shut the crevices will afford 
some ventilation, while direct draught is avoided. Foul 
air will rise, contrary to general supposition. Overhead 
windows above the stall-fronts, hinged at the bottom and 
telescoping into frames, so that there is no side draught, 
facilitate airiness and free circulation. The horse apart- 
ment in winter should range about 65°, and if we 
can by any means hold the thermometer near that point 
the year round we shall do well. The simplest drainage 
system is invariably the best for stable use, and all curiously 
devised arrangements of sinks, traps, etc., afford poor satis- 

191 



DRIVING 

faction to every one but the plumber. Servants are too 
careless, and the chief point in the matter is to arrange some- 
thing that will freely drain, and be a telltale upon the sloth- 
ful fellow who neglects to care for it. A galvanised iron 
receptacle at the end of each row of stalls in the gangway, 
large enough to contain the probable fluids of twelve or 
twenty-four hours, set into a small pit sunk into the floor 
into which the drains directly lead, is by far the best, simplest 
and cleanest plan to follow. If not emptied regularly, it 
simply flows over, and that is all there is to it; while the 
short drains make easy flushing, and present no traps, 
curves or angles to obstruct. An iron or wooden cover 
makes the pit safe, and several of these can be arranged in 
a large stable; while, as the gutters are open or lightly 
covered, they can be swept down and disinfected daily. The 
stable floors of asphalt slope steeply to this gutter at heel, 
but the plank stall-floors are so bevelled on the bottom from 
front to rear that they afford a level footing. These floors 
are either hinged at the sides and made to lift up like cellar 
doors, or the three or four middle slats are removable, and all 
can be daily washed and swept clean, not only as to the 
slats, but as to the floor underneath. If deep gutters and 
hidden drains are most approved, the drains of the carriage 
wash-stand and the harness-room sink shoiold lead into them, 
so that the large volume of water constantly flowing therefrom 
will cleanse the stall drains thoroughly. Into such drains 
solutions of copperas should be frequently poured. 

Thorough ventilation and the use in the carriage- and 
harness-rooms of artificial heat will prevent an undue amount 
of dampness from accumulating there. Wooden walls are 
dryer than brick in this climate, and if these are sheathed 
and wainscotted they will be found highly satisfactory. 

«9« 



STABLING AND STALLS 

Basement stabling is apt to be damp and consequently 
unhealthful. 

To keep servants contented and to expedite stable work 
convenience of arrangement is vitally necessary. Nothing 
annoys a really good, groom like unhandiness of details, and 
they soon grow tired of aimlessly nmning hither and thither 
for the articles which should be close at hand. From hamess- 
and cleaning-rooms to feed-bins and hay-loft, everything 
should be easily accessible; all procedure in putting- to and 
tmhamessing definitely consecutive and orderly. .Thus the 
naked horse passes from his stall, via the harness-room door, 
to the waiting vehicle, and reverses the process on return, 
arriving in his stall clean and tidy, the carriage rolling forth- 
with to the wash-stand, and thence into its place. Faucets 
should fill buckets, etc., quickly; hot water in plenty should 
be easy to get; the hay and grain should land from above in 
the most convenient places; and the manure pit should be 
accessible and easy to empty, the closets roomy and fully 
shelved. No cupboards, sure to harbour odds and ends and 
dirt, shotild be permitted, but all such places should be wide 
open and placed where the master can investigate them 
without pulling the contents all about. 

The most important detail is the accommodation for 
horses. The stalls and boxes should certainly, in America, 
be slatted, and not of solid material, the slats being quite 
as strong as solid planking. Horses do far better, eat better 
and are quieter and happier if they can see freely on all sides. 
Hay shovild be fed from the floor always, nor will any serious 
waste accrue, for what they leave on the floor they would also 
leave in a rack. Feed-boxes should be movable, that they 
may be taken out, washed and sunned. Water should stand 
in every stall, and these buckets should never be used under 



DRIVING 

any pretext for any other purpose. Earth floors, made Hke a 
macadam road and well covered, are the best, of course, but 
cannot easily be made in city stables. Servants shotdd not 
room directly over the horses, as they will annoy them by 
careless movements. Hay and grain, if stored in lofts, should 
have chutes (which will also assist ventilation) arranged 
at places handy for delivery, and, if there is space to 
spare, as in the country, arranging for sleeping-rooms 
and storage for feed upon the first story will lessen the 
cost of the entire building. 



194 



CHAPTER XX 

CARRIAGES AND THEIR CARE 

A VERY successful man in the management of his stable, 
carriages, etc., was always pooh-poohing the idea that expen- 
sive fittings were necessary, that damp coach-houses were 
inadvisable, or that anything more than the merest skeleton 
of a roof and walls was in our climate either economical or 
desirable. He was accustomed to point to his own equipages 
as permanent and indisputable testimony to the correctness 
of his theory — or rather practice, since his plan had little of 
theory in it. He simply took care that on fine days all 
the vehicles which were not used were sunned — not left for 
hours in a blaze, which might well have faded linings and 
cracked roofs, but drawn outdoors, protected by their cover- 
ings of duck and linen, and with these raised upon the sides, 
and the doors, etc. (of closed carriages), wide open, he insured 
their receiving a thorough airing which not only kept them 
sweet and free from mustiness internally, but kept the linings, 
trimmings, etc., in a perfectly dry condition. He contended 
that, given a carriage-house of ordinary sanitary conditions, 
the men were sure to keep it too much closed and not half 
aired, while the washing constantly going on promoted a 
constant dampness which the average weather conditions 
assisted, and in consequence mouldiness was bound to obtain. 
Even his harnesses were daily hung in the open, after cleaning, 
that the last vestige of dampness might be removed, as he 
believed much harm came from the perpetual washing, and 
that stitches were prematurely rotted thereby. Certainly no 

«9S 



DRIVING 

one obtained better results, and as surely every owner should 
see to it, that however well ventilated his carriage-house, 
its contents should, unless used, be drawn out into the sun and 
aired for several hours at least twice a week. Like everything 
else, it is the neglect of unconsidered trifles which affects the 
condition and duration of usefulness of a vehicle. The 
capable coachman is constantly pottering about his carriages, 
wishing to know for himself that all is well, and the cautious 
owner will insist upon it that proper supervision is maintained 
by his stable force regarding all those little details of wear 
and tear which are so gradual, almost imperceptible, and so 
generally neglected until either the vehicle must go to the 
wheelwright's for elaborate repairs or a general smash comes, 
and, like the " wonderful one-hoss shay, " it falls all to pieces, 
or is found to be past repair. A wrench should be placed on 
all nuts and bolts at least monthly; a little japan will keep 
steps, whiffletree, pole-ends and other points exposed to 
wear looking fresh, these needing attention constantly; the 
leather of tops, dashers, wings, etc., needs constant care, 
lubrication and dressing; the "fifth wheel" and king-pin need 
attention; the window- wells and the floors must be properly 
dried; the lining brushed, beaten, and any stains removed; 
the carpets kept cleaned, and the leather trimming fresh 
looking; any cracks in roof or panel given instant care, the 
paint and varnish looked after, and the latter when freshly 
applied given ample time to harden, and this process hastened 
by washing it a few times before it is used at all, and then dried 
as fast as washed, so that the water may not spot it; all cur- 
tains, boots, etc. (as of buggies, rockaways, etc.), which are 
either folded away under the seat or rolled up under the 
dasher or up to the roof, should be frequently aired and kept 
well suppled; no squeaking should proceed from springs or 

196 



CARRIAGES AND THEIR CARE 

parts of the running gear, but all shoxold be touched as needed 
with a lubricant, as castor oil, etc. ; no grease or grit should 
be allowed to collect about the hubs or the circle, for these 
should be properly cleaned at every washing with soap and 
water. Camphor balls are useful if carriages are laid 
away, but if the stable discipline is perfect even these are 
hardly necessary, as the daily attentions will prevent moths 
from making depredations. The dusters should be of the 
softest feathers, and that for the body especially should 
always be of the newest. No dusting, of course, takes the 
place of washing, but a whisking over is always a needful 
preliminary to going out, though even then perhaps a large 
soft linen is fully as effective, certainly less costly, and 
lasts longer. 

The wash-stand, if outdoors, should never be exposed to 
the sun, and always well elevated, that any spattering of 
muddy water may be avoided, nothing but cold water being 
used. A vehicle should be washed as soon after coming 
in as possible — before the mud hardens, if that can be man- 
aged; but if not, every bit of dirt must be well softened 
and literally "washed" away by copious floods of water — 
not scraped off with a wet sponge, taking varnish and all 
with it, as a slovenly servant will do — though this does not 
mean that the hose should throw too strong a stream, thereby 
forcing the grit away before it is thoroughly softened, and also 
possibly forcing water inside panels, window wells, etc., to 
their detriment. Especially must all grit be removed from 
around bolt-heads, the leaves and angles of springs, etc., 
and every place where there is a joint or a chance for any 
foreign substance to affect the free working or increase the 
play of the joint, hinge, etc. When perfectly washed it 
must be as thoroughly dried, and two chamois, one for the 



DRIVING 

body and one for the gear, are desirable, as are two sponges, 
one especially large and soft for the body, etc., and another 
smaller one for the wheels. If a carriage has a folding top, the 
top should always be kept up when housed, lest the leather 
crack and the ribs, etc., lose their shape; linseed oil should 
be applied at proper intervals, as after a thorough soaking 
rain, etc., and neat's-foot oil should be used in dressing any 
oil leather, as boots, safety straps, etc. All the metal 
parts on lamps, mouldings, etc., should be kept brightly 
polished by the use of plate powder and chamois, and the 
windows kept spotlessly clean by the use of whiting paste and 
the ever-useful chamois. The needful care of wheels and axles 
nowadays is much simplified, as the patent axles will rim 
a long time untouched, but as they are of very delicate 
mechanism it is better that an arrangement should be made 
with a carriage builder to inspect and grease them at certain 
times, this tending to their durability and the maintaining 
of a satisfactory condition in them. Should a wheel ever 
" set " when in use, it may be regarded as fair evidence that 
another head man is desirable, and as an indication that as 
such an occurrence is significant of inexcusable negligence, 
other departments under his charge are probably as care- 
lessly handled. In fact, such a happening affords as good 
ground for instant dismissal as would drunkenness. For 
greasing ordinary wheels, castor oil is the best lubricant; 
the spindles should always be carefully cleaned and wiped 
dry with a turpentined rag ; just enough oil should be applied 
to cover the arm thoroughly and not to drip, and the nut 
when screwed up should be carefully started in order not to 
hurt the threads of the screw. 

All pole-crabs, unless japanned, should be thoroughly and 
regularly polished with sand and water, finished with a steel 



CARRIAGES AND THEIR CARE 

chain polisher; chains, etc., if used, are poHshed by swinging 
them in a cloth or canvas bag, a la an Indian club swinger, 
and, if not to be immediately used, rubbed over with a little 
oil on a rag. Poles should be most carefully handled when 
in the house, and provided with a rest which will thoroughly 
and evenly support them throughout. They should not be 
hung, as they may warp and crack, nor stood up, as they may 
fall or spring. The rivets, etc., about the pole-head should 
be constantly examined, and there is no doubt that safety 
would be assisted by continuing the braces of the pole-head 
further along the pole than they usually are made. A head 
is easily twisted off, and when this happens it is almost 
invariably the occasion of a very bad accident. For the same 
reason, safety straps on poles or shafts should be much 
stronger than at present provided. The neck-yoke, used on 
the swinging pole, is dangerous in that its holder is made of 
leather only, the stitches of which are sure to rot in time and 
the leather to crack The yoke should be provided with an 
iron ring inside the leather, thus greatly strengthening and 
safeguarding it. The pole-straps should be kept as flexible 
as possible, thoroughly oiled and cared for, and inspected as 
to stitching and to see that the buckle-tongues are not by 
any chance bent, but rest fairly in the buckles. This buckle 
is, next to that on the top of the hames, the most important 
in the equipment — and the least regarded. 

Two-wheeled vehicles shotold always be supported as to 
their shafts by wooden horses which will keep the vehicles in 
about the position they occupy when horses are attached, 
thus preventing any bending and warping of the shafts. All 
pole- rests, etc., should be leather-covered, that paint may not 
be bruised, and as nowadays the patent shaft-couplings 
allow all poles and shafts on American-made vehicles to be 



DRIVING 



almost instantly detachable, proper hangers shotild be pro- 
vided for them, also leather-covered, and each should have 
its own hanging-place, being suspended by the cross-bar 
from two wooden or iron rests, thus protected. 

Carriage robes should be daily brushed, spots carefully 
sought and removed with benzine, etc., and aired as regularly 
as the carriages, that no stable smell or mustiness may be 
noticeable and scent the owner's clothes disagreeably. Bind- 
ings should be kept fresh, and the metal disks common on 
driving aprons nicely polished. 

Rubber tires, now all but universal, should always be 
in good order. These inventions are invaluable, not only as 
increasing comfort, but as so lessening the jar and vibration, 
that all vehicles last much longer. 



CHAPTER XXI 

THE HARNESS AND ITS CARE 

Never economise on harness. Cheap horse, second- 
hand vehicle, a milkman coachman, if you must, but for the 
sake of all the "entities" and "ologies" let your harness 
be of the best material, the most conservative construction — 
on the grounds of safety if on no others; because it is the 
connecting link between horse and vehicle if nothing else, 
and therefore should be strong; because it, like your own 
garments, classifies you to the world at large as a " snob or 
a nob," and therefore should be quiet and appropriate. 
You may prefer, or your means may compel you to put up 
with, ordinary horses and unpretentious carriages, but every 
reason — real economy, self-appreciation and ordinary intelli- 
gence — forbids the " common or garden " ready-made harness 
and $17.98, and insists upon the hand-made, reliable, well- 
proportioned and attractive harness of at least $50 for single 
and $1 50 for double. For another reason, be your beginnings 
as unpretentious as may be, you must have a standard to 
"live up to," a goal of excellence you would reach — we all 
have in every detail of life. Therefore, your harness, as the 
least expensive commodity to obtain of first-class quality, 
in the first place affords you a mark at which to shoot — and 
as neither before a second-hand carriage nor upon a second- 
rate horse does it appear really well, your inclination tends 
along directions ever upward and onward to the tasteful 
realms of harmonious equipage, and before you know it you are 
" taking notice" as never before of the eternal fitness of things 



DRIVING 

in matters pertaining to the equine and his accouterments, 
and are by way of joining that vast and increasing army of 
horse-fanciers who take pride and pleasure in being well 
"turned out," not only for personal gratification, but also 
as an educational departure for the general public. Our 
parks and roads prove that the first ambitions of a citizen 
tend to vehicular extravagance, and that the $2,000 carriage 
drawn by a $400 pair of horses caparisoned in a $100 set 
of harness is more frequent than pleasing. The adventurers 
have hold of the wrong end of the stick, and will probably 
retain it. There is little hope for them — there is much for 
you if you evade their errors. 

Simplicity and good form are synonymous in equipments 
as in everything else — the garish and the elegant go never 
hand-in-hand; the bizarre and the appropriate do not herd 
together. Severe simplicity is the "best form," but it 
demands that all accessories shall be as elegantly perfect to 
lend to the ensemble that air of good taste which we all desire. 
Even sombemess may be truly elegant — often is — if all 
accessories are suitable and in good taste. 

Some definite plan should be followed in all these matters, 
and haphazard buying can but work evil and result in dis- 
appointment. Decide what size and kind of vehicles you 
mean to keep and then horse and harness yourself accord- 
ingly. Your heavy brougham harness will not do for a 
runabout or other light vehicle, yet may do very well for a 
gig, etc.; your road- wagon harness may pull your station 
wagon, ^but will never harmonise with its more massive lines ; 
it costs no more to begin right, and it is due yourself and 
your family to do so. Personally, you may not care whether 
silver or brass is used, horseshoe buckles or square, but you 
will, perhaps unconsciously, compare your equipage with 



THE HARNESS AND ITS CARE 

others, recognise its shortcomings, become dissatisfied or 
ashamed, and have the expense of beginning all over again. 
You despise yourself, perhaps, on noticing that Mr. Dives's 
clothes cost at least $65, are perfect in fit and cut, and make 
your own " hand-me-downs " look like a transfer slip by 
comparison, but you forthwith begin to reckon ways and 
means to see if somehow you cannot afford to patronise 
Dives's tailor. 

Go then to a first-class harness-maker and pay him his 
price for what you select, eschewing all fancy scroll-work or 
too much plating. Have a modest monogram or letter 
placed upon the blinkers only (or on the face-piece, saddle- 
skirts, etc., if you prefer); forswear crests and badges 
of all sorts — you are honestly entitled to your letter or mono- 
gram, but whether you are to the other emblems goodness 
only knows; in this democratic country probably not — and 
be proud of it. Black, of course, the harness will be; brass 
mounted is the cheaper and more general, but silver is more 
desirable for that reason, and also because your man can 
much more easily keep it clean and fresh looking. Brown 
harness you should never buy — firstly, because it is not 
"dress" at all; secondly, because you would get ghastly 
sick of it if you did; thirdly, because, being conspicuous, it 
is not only in bad taste but draws special attention to your 
outfit and its deficiencies. It should be double-lined, of course ; 
black-stitched; and the keepers (or harness loops) always of 
leather, and single; never box and of metal. (This does not 
apply to harness for road-wagon and light-buggy use, which 
generally has box loops, as do most harnesses for American 
vehicles.) 

Briefly describing the most desirable construction of the 
different parts of the harness, it may be said that, as to the 

203 



DRIVING 

bridle, the blinkers should be square, or slightly rounded 
on the comers, and never round or horseshoe-shaped, as being 
not dressy and most unbecoming, as well as too commonly 
used on wagons and hacks; bridle-fronts of chain or square- 
band pattern, coloured leather being rather " sporty, " and 
cloth being used only for the most elegant lady's vehicle 
when the full panoply is desired; buckles always square or 
slightly rounded on the edge, although all harness for sporting 
uses, as the runabout, road-coach, etc., may have the horse- 
shoe buckle, and the light road-wagon harness generally has 
the same; the face-piece is always worn — in heavy harness, 
the gag-check, generally with pulley — these being removed if 
the check is not used; the nose-band should always have 
plenty of holes, that it may be taken up snugly if required, 
and constitute a useful portion of the appointments in assist- 
ing the bitting instead of being merely an ornament as 
generally constructed. The collar is sometimes shaped, 
but, if not, is made straight for general purposes, and 
shaped (in a curve at top) in all outfits for ladies' or 
park work; the straight fits ordinary shoulders the best, 
and sets much closer: these are always patent leather, faced 
with black, except as to those for sporting use, which may 
be faced with tan leather— the saddle linings corresponding 
if this is the case; breast-collars are increasing in vogue, and 
while they may now be seen in gigs and even victorias, and 
have the advantage of bestowing a false appearance of length 
upon a short and thick neck, they are not in keeping at all, 
and distinctly undress. The hames are confined at bottom 
by a chain in single harness; by open or jointed kidney-links 
in double harness, the closed link being the fad of the moment, 
but either being really proper. The breast-plate should go, 
for safety sake, round the collar and kidney-link, although 



THE HARNESS AND ITS CARE 

fickle fashion just now decrees that in appointment classes it 
must be fastened only round the ring on the inner segment 
of the kidney -link ; these appurtenances should be taken up 
short enough to be really useful in backing and holding back. 
The hames-tugs attach to the harness by finger-draught in 
park equipage, ring-draught in sporting. Much argument 
has been wasted over the absolutely immaterial question as to 
whether the clips and rivets should be exposed or covered. 
If exposed, they should be plated to match the harness. 

The pad should be straight-flapped, and if for two-wheel 
work the back-strap should work freely through the saddle- 
tree; French or English tugs are used, according to work — 
the latter nowadays principally on hansom harness only, so 
generally is the breeching done away with; double harness 
pads are narrower and longer than the single. Housings of 
all kinds are appropriate, combined with brow-bands, rosettes, 
loin-straps, etc., on all harness for a lady's use, and either to 
be driven by herself or by a servant, as being full dress and 
more in harmony with the general intention and appearance 
of the vehicle. They should, however, all go together, and 
not be used piecemeal, and always with pulley bridoon checks. 

We have adopted the fashion of doing away with breech- 
ings upon many light vehicles, and have carried the fad to a 
dangerous extent, in some cases going so far as to omit it 
even for victoria and brougham work. For the runabout, 
the gig and other light vehicles such omission can work no 
particular harm, but stirely the danger line is passed if we 
go further. Even the most docile animal will kick if his 
back-strap be too tight, causing the crupper to draw painfully 
under the tail, and the stops on the shafts which serve as hold- 
backs for the tugs are by no means unbreakable. It is true 
that some horses object to the feel of the breeching, and will 

205 



DRIVING 

kick if one is worn, but this is only a matter of making the 
animal accustomed to the pressure. The crupper itself is not 
infrequently too slight, and painfully cuts and presses the 
dock or has sharp edges which cause annoyance. Cruppers, 
in the days of long tails, buckled upon both sides, but 
nowadays are usually made in one piece. The breeching 
when used shoiold be adjusted at just the proper length of 
hip-straps, and the ends of these should tuck snugly into the 
billets provided, and not project as an annoying obstacle upon 
which the reins regularly catch. Light road-harnesses are 
best made with the buckles set high near the back-band, that 
this objection may be removed. Trace-bearers in double 
harness should be just the right length, not dangling loosely 
about, riding lap, nor strained by the traces. 

The pad should fit exactly and be placed just back of 
the swell of the shoulders, where the muscles cease to bulge. 
The girth and bellyband should be soft and pliable, and the 
latter shotild work in loops upon the former's broad surface, 
thus preventing any danger of pinching or chafing. The 
trace-girths in double harness should be rather loose, and the 
tugs on the pad adjusted at just the proper length, the traces 
arranged so that they hang straight and in place. 

The reins should be kept soft and be rather narrow and 
thin, that looping, etc., may be easy, and that the small 
hands of ladies and children may comfortably grasp them. 
Plenty of holes should be made for changing couplings, and 
the buckles at the bit end provided with long billets with 
several holes, that additional changes may be made there if 
necessary. 

Great advantages accrue from having all the harness 
made upon the same general lines. Thus with a set of victoria 
or phaeton harness and a gig harness one may drive tandem 

206 



THE HARNESS AND ITS CARE 

if long reins, traces and tandem terrets are kept; or a set 
of phaeton and one victoria harness may, with the same 
extras, make a four-in-hand outfit. Every horse may have 
his own bridle and collar — should have the last, anyway — 
and with them may take his place before any vehicle, single 
or double, at need. 

Intelligent attention and a little watchfulness of weather 
conditions will make all the difference in the life of even the 
most expensive harness. Proper cleaning, blacking and oiling 
are required, and under the buckles is the place most generally 
neglected. A stitch in time will do wonders to hold things 
together, and patent leather and metal ftimiture need daily 
careful polishing. 



J07 



CHAPTER XXII 

SHOW-RING HORSES 

Show-ring competition may perhaps not be classed with 
those contests which " try men's souls," but it certainly tends 
to develop and to lay bare many curious kinks in human 
nature and remarkable eccentricities in the characters of those 
who take part in such diversions. The "hard loser" and 
the chronic faiilt-finder expand to mammoth proportions 
about the ringside as they do nowhere else; and the man of 
equable temper, who never by word or deed disparages the 
performance of his rivals or the awards of the officials, is a 
very rare specimen, and to be cherished, when found, with the 
utmost solicitude. Probably no more expensive sport, except 
yachting, finds favour among us ; for the possibility of financial 
gain is out of all proportion to the certainty of heavy outlay 
for equipment and for travelling expenses. The paltry prizes 
offered by even the most pretentious exhibitions are hardly 
worth mentioning, and far less valuable than they should 
be, bearing in mind the huge revenues and the enormous 
dividends paid by most of the shows. Exhibitors have no 
one but themselves to blame, however, that they are thus 
tossed the crumbs from the basket, and are most short- 
sighted that they do not demand larger purses, free transpor- 
tation and free stabling and feed from every exhibition. An 
organization of exhibitors and a separate organization of 
horse-shows would greatly benefit themselves and each other, 
as the former could, in return for certain concessions, guar- 
antee for each show a stated number of entries by caucus of 

209 



DRIVING 

members ; while the latter could thus not only give its separate 
affairs ample guarantee of support, but could also adjudicate at 
leisure upon the various abuses which are finding their places 
in the arena — could effectively discipline recalcitrants, pre- 
vent ringing, prohibit the use of the cocaine needle and other 
"doping" tricks which are far too common, arrange horse- 
show dates in certain sequence advantageous to all interests, 
settle this tiresome appointment business, and exercise 
generally a wise and most necessary control over all branches 
of the sport. 

The judge and the exhibitor engage in the arena in a 
contest of intelligence in which the latter makes every effort 
not only to impress the former with the merits of his exhibit 
but also to deceive him as to its shortcomings. To this extent 
amateurs adopt at times methods which savour too much of 
the tricky professional, and stoop to acts which they would 
resent upon the part of others in the same competition. 
Justice to our horse demands that he be properly apparelled 
and competently shown, but there the matter should end, and 
any schemes a "little out of line" sternly discountenanced. 
Showing horses, if not conducted in a fair, square, open and 
aboveboard fashion, is unworthy of patronage, and if the taint 
of shady deeds is once noticeable it will, as have so many 
other sports thus befouled in America, drop entirely from 
public favour into the oblivion it will well deserve. 

If we would successfully pass the judicial inspection 
and appraisal, we must first find the raw material likely to 
develop into the phenomenon, or acquire the finished article 
at heavy outlay; we must equip, balance show and "place" 
him properly where he can win, and not shoot too high for 
the caliber of our gun; we must display him to the best 
advantage, either in person or by engaging the services of 



i 



SHOW-RING HORSES 

some competent amateur or professional. Ability in the 
last respect is by no means a usual personal attribute, as the 
large number who fail at the tmdertaking proves; but surely 
he of the genuine sporting spirit will prefer the excitement 
and pleasure of personal competition, even if success does not 
always come to him, rather than to occupy merely the posi- 
tion of an " angel " who finances an exhibition in which he is 
not competent to be an actor. It is this tiresome subordina- 
tion to others as much as disgust at defeat which leads many 
a would be showman to quit the arena and to further aug- 
ment the band of fault-finders, thenceforth deriving a 
moumftil pleasure from reciting the "hard-luck stories" 
of his own personal experience and from listening to those 
of others. 

Promising raw material is nowadays, if at all noteworthy, 
usually trotting-bred, or of more or less direct trotting 
descent; and the difficulties encountered in changing the 
balance and increasing the extravagance of the action are 
simplified by this fact, as methods nearly identical are 
appropriate to every case. His balance, his poise when 
moving and his pose when standing have all to do with his 
merits as a good "prospect" for ring honovirs, and need as 
much care as his proper bitting. Gradually he must come to 
face the curb steadily, to endure severe checking cheerfully, not 
only in motion, but when standing still. Physic in two mild 
doses will have cleansed the inward horse ; steady walking and 
jogging will develop and harden the muscles of the outer; 
while, once he approaches condition, his harness work will 
be of the most brief description — a few minutes every other 
day, perhaps, when every effort is directed to make him 
display and "parade" himself, his exercise otherwise con- 
sisting of a daily walk " in hand," the idea being to keep him 



DRIVING 

superlatively fresh and " above himself , " that, when shown 
in the ring, he may through sheer exuberance go to extremes 
in his action during the brief period when he is undergoing 
inspection by the judges, and may thus ultimately acquire as 
a habit the senselessly high action which show-ring require- 
ments nowadays demand — action so absurdly exaggerated 
in many cases that it ceases to be graceftil or useful, but 
degenerates into a mere temporary hysterical contortion. 

Shoeing, the weight of the shoes and the appropriate 
length of the toes have much to do with developing high 
action. Just now, because some horse chanced to go high 
that wore a long toe to keep him from pacing and mixing his 
gaits as some trotting-bred horses will, it is the fad to wear 
the front toes abnormally and most harmfully long, and not 
a few horses have been crippled by the practice. Nothing 
but experiments will demonstrate what will suit the particular 
case, although, as mentioned, the fact that most horses are 
trotting-bred reduces the variety of action which we must 
correct. All the weight in the heel, or in the toe ; long, short 
or medium toes; side weighting to straighten imperfect 
action; some needing to "break over" quickly in front, 
others to be extended more in their stride, etc. ; his needs 
in respect to his shoes gradually unfold as his balance and 
his poise changes ; but one thing is certain — that our native- 
bred horse is so wonderfully adaptable that, however much 
weight (often very great) he may need to square him and 
to force his action, this may be steadily reduced as he gains 
experience, until he finally carries a moderate-weight shoe. 
This result can be reached by weighing his shoes when he is 
reshod and making the new set weigh just the amount to 
which attrition has reduced the old, always assuming that 
the high action has, in the old shoes, been retained. The 



SHOW-RING HORSES 

lighter these can be made of course the better, and the animals, 
if to show at their best, should, when developed, be left bare- 
foot between exhibitions, that the special shoes which 
develop the high action may have their effect when reset just 
before going to the next reunion. 

Knee-action may be improved in all cases, in some 
instances to wonderful extent. Hock-action remains about 
at the normal, unless the subject has a faculty of naturally 
bending his hocks and "going off" them, as the dealers say. 
This natural tendency will greatly improve if given the 
chance, and the changed poise, even if the knee-action be in 
such cases none too high, will tend to develop the motion in 
front, from the fact that the hocks thus sent well tmder 
the body help to lighten the forehand, and to add much 
springiness to the action; while the animal who does not 
naturally and easily flex his hocks never carries himself as 
he might, nor gets them helpfully vmder him. Despite 
everything, however, if we go to the cruel lengths now notice- 
able in "gag-checking" our horses, they can never be at 
ease or go freely. The " squatty-going " horses we see so 
often in the ring are forced to move thus by the tremendous 
stress which the severe check puts upon their backs and loins. 

Many a horse is considered to move his hocks well when 
the action comes all from the stifles, a noted peculiarity in 
the trotting-bred horse's gait being excessive stifle action. 
The really fast horse is sure to show this peculiarity, just as 
he is to more easily go high at speed than at a slower rate. 
Possessed of this ability to go fast, and restrained from 
rapid progress by sharp bitting, we find frequently an ex- 
traordinarily brilliant development of action will follow, for 
if he cannot go on, he must, like water restrained, go up, and 
aided, as in no other horse, by the play of shotdders, stifles, 

213 



DRIVING 

hocks and knees, the result is brilliant in the extreme. The 
animal of no natural speed may go high, but it will probably 
be with knees only; nor is this action likely to endure sensa- 
tionally, because the animal, being at the top of his pace, 
quickly tires and goes to pieces, not only because he is low- 
bred, but because the exertion is, for him, too violent to be 
long endured. 

Lunging horses over deep straw beds, through snow or 
water knee-deep or less, over rails laid at certain distances 
apart on the ground, using " elastic action " controllers to 
knees and hocks when in harness, assisted by proper balancing, 
will temporarily help action, if the horse is allowed to trot 
only under such circumstances and walked at all other times. 
The improvement, however, is rarely worth the trouble, and 
affects chiefly animals of low breeding, naturally dull in intelli- 
gence, who are too dense to realise that, once the obstacles 
are removed, they need not continue to elevate the feet. 
Running the horse on hand, and keeping after him with a 
whip, will make him lighter in poise and tend to increase his 
action, and dumb jockeying will do some good in certain 
cases ; but when all is said and done, a good pair of hands and 
ordinary intelligence and observation beats all the bitting- 
rigging ever heard of, and, as no other factor in the job can 
do, cultivates the action that, once acquired, "stays put." 

Never neglect your horse's caparison and equipment 
when you have got him fit and ready and are about to show 
for the money. This is the finishing touch, and if you do not 
display your goods to the best advantage you have no one 
to blame but yourself for neglecting your own affairs. Your 
harness must fit in every point, not " pretty well," but exactly: 
from bit to crupper, from bellyband to brow-band, that the 
horse may be exactly comfortable in every point. Beware 



SHOW-RING HORSES 

of narrow brow-bands, bit wrongly placed, girths pain- 
fiilly tight, checks that are too short, back-straps too short; 
and that the animal is suppled as to his neck muscles, so that 
he can bend himself easily free from discomfort. Mane, tail 
and fetlocks shoiild all be in order, vehicle fresh and clean, 
and everything neat and smart, plain and appropriate. 

Never delay when the class is called, but get ready as 
soon as called, and promptly enter the ring when the bugle 
blows. Leave a late entrance, which savours of cheap adver- 
tising, to the flash performer and the notoriety seeker. 

Never be led by the performances of others to go 
dashing about a show-ring as if driving in a race, and thus 
reducing the exhibition to the level of a farce by displaying 
a pace as undignified as it is uncalled for in heavy-harness 
work, and which at the open-air shows especially is so general 
that the whole idea of the competition is destroyed. A calm 
and collected show is what the judges want; when they 
desire speed they will ask for it, and you are only uselessly 
exhausting your horse to push him now. If you have any 
chance at all it will not be sacrificed by moderation in 
this respect. You may pull your horse together just once, 
if the judges are looking, and parade down one side of the 
ring, but that is enough. 

Come in at once when called, and do not keep the ring- 
master chasing you about while you are trying to be ctmning 
and to avail yourself of the thinning field to make a sensational 
show. The judges may not be looking, and you only fool 
yourself by these would-be clever exploits. When you reach 
your place, it does no harm to go a length or two beyond 
the line if your horse is well trained, and then to back into 
place; it proves manners at once. 

No unchecking shoiild be allowed in the ring, and if 



DRIVING 

horses will not stand quietly checked they should be sent out. 
The practice is carried to cruel lengths, and horses are shown 
as they are supposed to work for hours if necessary. Nothing 
is more unfair than to free the heads if half -broken, and 
to miniiyiize any advantage accruing to the docile and the 
humanely treated. Have your charge stand up and show 
himself when the judges come, and when told to back be sure 
that he is on his feet and so placed that he can comply — nor 
go one step farther than the judges require, for your horse 
may turn restive at that moment; so let well enough alone. 
Give them the best you and your celebrity can contrive 
at all times, and, as part of a show for which the public pays 
to enter, realise your subordinate part, and that you are on 
a par with any other performer. 

Now comes the second and probably the final parade, 
so make up your mind to get the best your animal has and 
display it to the utmost advantage. Give him all the benefit 
to be gained by going into the comers, thus getting every 
inch of length for straight going that you can ; if your charge 
gets cunning and hangs toward the center (driving on one 
rein), of course you cannot do this as completely as you 
would like. Particularly should you follow this course if 
speed is asked for and your horse is slower than others. 
You must inevitably lose ground, but if you do so by this 
means the officials cannot tell just how much you lack in this 
respect, because you are going the longest way round the 
arena. Regulate your pace, if you can, to what suits yotir 
horse, and at any rate keep him going square and level at all 
times, both for present and for future effect. 

If he has a one-sided mouth, or goes better one way than 
the other, try and lead off when ordered, that you may turn 
him his favourite way, and, if you think you can challenge 



SHOW-RING HORSES 

comparison, get in front or behind your most dangerous 
competitor and try to wear him down, cutting comers if he 
does (a Httle more than he does, to save distance), and 
generally availing yourself of every fair advantage possible, 
but never crowding, cutting off nor interfering with anybody, 
and always giving way if a dispute arises (the arena is no 
place for wrangling or for quarrels of any kind ; leave all that 
to the professional and semi-amateur). When driving a 
pair or four, be specially careful, if you can, always to keep 
the best specimens next the judges. 

Always keep a wary eye ahead and a listening ear behind, 
being prepared for a dead stop, a quick turn, or a smash; 
and notify others of yoiu* intentions, by the proper whip 
signals, when making sharp turns or pulling up. 

Horses are doctored in the show-rings to-day, as never 
before, for all sorts of troubles in physique and temper, and 
the practices known to the "gyp dealer" are not neglected 
by people who should be above such things. Summary 
punishment should be meted out to all offenders. The 
man who dopes a wind-broken horse, doctors ankles, etc., for 
lameness or to produce action, and arranges all sorts of 
bitting contrivances for deceiving the judges, is a cheap 
swindler, and for such cheating should be thrown out of all 
reputable shows. 

Horses do better if stabled away from the show building, 
on grounds where they can be quiet, and, unless one is a 
dealer, there is no object in having them at the show at all; 
while the vehicles, etc., can be better cared for at livery than 
amid the dusty and dirty surroundings of the average exhi- 
bition, and one's smaller valuables are safer away from the 
crowd that always hangs about such structures or premises. 

Travel by express is rather more expensive but far more 



DRIVING 

satisfactory than by freight. We might to advantage 
joiimey more by road than we do; and show horses, led or 
driven slowly, can walk fifty miles or so in two or three 
days and be all the better for it, as well as free from all dangers 
incurred by car-travel. If they travel by cars or boat, they 
need protection upon the crown of the head by placing a 
thick pad there, and the tail shotold be bandaged, but there 
seems no reason for the ostentatious wrapping of the legs in 
cotton batting and bandages. You are responsible for the 
acts, appearance and manner of yotir servants, and shoiild 
take care that they offend neither by action nor word the 
management, other exhibitors, or the public. 

It is always gratifying to the public and to all good 
sportsmen to see the owner and the amateur taking an active 
part in the performances in the arena ; nor should the tyro be 
discouraged by failure, or by the fact that at first he may 
be outgeneralled by other drivers, but remember that as he 
is now, so once were they, professional or not; that actual 
practice will bring proficiency and do away with the excite- 
ment and self -consciousness which make him, both before and 
after his entrance, so nervously anxious; while he should be 
above noticing the ridicule which possibly his first essays 
may provoke from the envious and the captious. 

Not only is the new beginner frequently " rattled " him- 
self, but the moment he takes up the reins his steed is likely 
to be upset as well, for the "wireless telegraph" to which 
all horses are so sensitive is forthwith at work, and the 
creature is disconcerted and upset before the time for 
action arrives. 

Because professionals "nag" their horses, and shake 
them up by hand and bit manipulation, it does not follow 
either that horses act better for it or that the amateiu- should 

2X8 



SHOW-RING HORSES 

attempt it. Notoriously, the animals go better for a woman 
who lets them, in a way, drive themselves, than they do for 
most men, and the efforts of the novice to imitate more 
experienced reinsmen usually result in hopelessly confusing 
the horse. No animal fit to rank as a heavy-harness horse 
needs this mauling about, nor should it be allowed in the 
arena, where the judges are trying to find out what a horse 
does naturally, and not what he can be tormented and 
tortured into doing. 

Anybody can win gracefully, but good losers are scarce, 
and the transcendent virtue of smilingly accepting defeat is a 
rare accomplishment indeed, and one demanding much 
fortitude of nature. Thus prepared, one's occasional successes 
prove all the more sweet. No sport has developed more 
" hard losers " and chronic " kickers " than the enormously 
expensive enterprise of horse-showing. 

Finally, as an amateur, you should realise that it is to 
you and your fellows that the shows must look for support 
and advance if they are to endure in public favour; to yotu* 
presence and active participation that it turns to hold in 
abeyance that ever-present danger which threatens all such 
organisations— the preponderance of the professional and 
quasi-amateur element which has proved an vmsxirmountable 
handicap to the manv other sports. 



219 



CHAPTER XXIII 

AMERICAN ROAD-COACHING 

It is curious that clubs for the promotion of four-in-hand 
driving have not been more frequently organised in America, 
where so many essentials to the sport are economically to 
be had, and where the roads are so generally good, the scenery 
so picturesque, and where points of interest are to be found 
adjacent to every city. 

Perhaps it is harsh to say so, but it would appear that the 
only element lacking has been a liberal sporting spirit. The 
organisations at New York and Philadelphia are the only 
ones which have ever made any attempts at parades, etc., 
and they are to-day, while extant, neither especially lively 
nor very generally in evidence, save that the coach " Pioneer, " 
which is running each spring from the Holland House, New 
York, to the Ardsley Casino, is promoted and backed by a 
few members of The Coaching Club (New York), and that 
the annual parades prove in each city attractive spectacles. 

There was another club originated for the purpose of 
promoting road-coaching and open for membership only to 
men who had driven a public coach, which went so far as to 
incorporate, to elect officers, and to originate a very neat 
scarfpin, specimens of which are still in evidence. This body, 
the Four-in-Hand Club, was composed of some men already 
members of the Coaching Club and some others who were 
not, and it is a pity that it never actively began life. Another 
body, the American Coaching Club, is also in existence, but has 
hitherto made no sign beyond donating a prize for four-in- 



DRIVING 

hand competition at a few shows. So far as known, these 
are the only coaching clubs ever organised in this country. 

The Coaching Club of New York has done much for the 
sport, not only of private but of public four-in-hand driving, 
and its manual of correct appointments is universally 
recognised as standard throughout the country. Comprising 
in its list of members gentlemen as prominent socially and 
in the business world as they are in the realms of sport, its 
exclusive character has perhaps been rather a drawback to 
the liberal advance of interest in the amusement, because 
so many of its members are not actively in touch with its 
undertakings, and a number of gentlemen who are con- 
spicuously interested are not members; nor does the younger 
element, either inside or outside the elect, follow up the sport 
with much vigour. So lamentably has this been the case 
of late years that it is with the utmost difficulty that the 
annual parade in New York has been held at all, while that 
at Newport has virtually been abandoned. 

That this should be the case has been a great handicap 
to the public interest in coaching, and all those who wish 
for the constant fostering of the sport deplore the lack of 
energy manifested by the gentlemen who might, if they 
would, do so much to keep the game alive. True, the 
"Pioneer" runs under the auspices of The Coaching Club, 
but it is no secret that it is thus fostered in name principally. 
Praiseworthy as this is, and sporting as is the whole affair, 
it does not make up for the absence in the park and on the 
roads of those capitally turned-out coaches which used to 
be in daily evidence. The witchery inseparable from handling 
four good horses is but little appreciated by the youth of the 
day, who seem to prefer the " honk " of the hooting automobile 
to the ringing music of a "yard of tin." 



AMERICAN ROAD-COACHING 

The Coaching Club is unhkely to find imitators from the 
fact that its very appellation precludes the likelihood of 
such rivalry. "The" Club is overpowering in this respect, 
and seizes thereby upon a situation as unique as it 
is isolated. Any other must be distinguished by some 
adjective, and suffer therefrom a serious loss of cachet and 
of reputation, while, of course, it could in no way savour of 
that exclusiveness which possesses an irresistible charm for 
most Americans. Everything else it could do most accept- 
ably, and coiald furnish a far more noticeable and persistent 
object-lesson than the senior body, which is really preempt- 
ing in a way a field it will not work — starring upon a stage 
from which other performers are in a way debarred. 

A truly democratic coaching parade might well be a 
most interesting feature of each spring in New York and all 
the larger cities — a procession to which every description of 
coach and brake should be welcomed; nor is it likel} that 
such reimions wotild fail of ample patronage, not onl}' from 
owners, but from the public as well. Especially would this be 
a success if The Coaching Club itself would originate the 
idea and push matters along. We should see turnouts at 
Philadelphia, Boston, Newport, Chicago, and other large 
cities, such as would do credit to the sport and all honour 
to its promoters, while attracting public attention to it and 
encouraging the youth of the country financially able to 
actively enter into it. 

To Colonel Delancey A. Kane belongs all the credit for 
establishing the sport of public coaching in America. After 
driving road-coaches for a few seasons in England, and 
acquiring a reputation there as one of the most ardent 
enthusiasts and best performers on the box, Colonel Kane, 
in 1875, put on the "Tally-ho" (a name which has conferred 



DRIVING 

a similar appellation upon all sorts of vehicles propelled by 
four horses in all parts of this country) , to run daily between 
the Brunswick Hotel, New York, and the Arcularius Hotel, 
Pelham. This coach loaded well, was thoroughly well done 
throughout, and ran about three months, or until the middle 
of Jime. The tmdertaking was again entered upon by 
Colonel Kane in 1876, and again was found most popular. 

In 1877 Colonel Kane changed his route, running from 
the Brtmswick, as usual, but the Castle Inn at New Rochelle 
formed the other terminus of the route. The time of 
year was the same, and, as before, the coach loaded well. 

In 1878 Colonel Kane again changed his line and ran 
from the Brunswick, New York, to the Getty House, in 
Yonkers, the "Tally-ho" being throughout all these years 
the coach which worked the road. 

Coaching suffered a temporary eclipse during the next 
two years, as Colonel Kane abandoned further active 
proceedings, but in 1881 Messrs. Frederick Bronson, William 
Jay, Isaac Bell and Hugo Fritsch put on the "Tantivy" to 
nm between the Brunswick Hotel, New York, and the 
Vincent House, Tarrytown. This coach, horsed with State 
of Maine horses, was a model — fast, well done, smart, and 
well patronised. 

Again the sport lapsed, until, in 1885, Messrs. C. Oliver 
Iselin and J. R. Roosevelt ran the " Greyhoimd " between the 
Brunswick Hotel and the Westchester Cotmtry Club. 

In 1886 the "Tantivy" was again put on the road, but 
this time to the Westchester Country Club. Messrs. Frederick 
Bronson, Hugo Fritsch and J. R. Roosevelt being its sponsors, 
while in 1890 the same coach, Messrs. Frederick Bronson, J. R. 
Roosevelt and R. W. Rives at the helm, again covered daily 
the roads between the Brunswick and the Country Club. 









i 






AMERICAN ROAD-COACHING 

In 1892 a much more pretentious undertaking in the 
way of public coaching was inaugurated when the coach 
"Republic" was put on the road between the Plaza Hotel, 
New York, and The Club, Tuxedo, running up one day and 
down the next. This route was horsed and driven by 
Messrs. R. W. Rives, F. O. Beach and Pierre Lorillard, Jr., 
and was excellently supported and capitally managed in 
every way. 

Continuing the series, the "Tempest" was put on in 
1894 to run between the Brunswick Hotel and the Westchester 
Country Club, Messrs. J. CUnch Smith and F. T. Underhill 
being the leading spirits. A party of Philadelphians, Messrs. 
Nelson Brown, E. De V. Morrell, E. Browning and E. Miller, 
ran the coaches "Alert" and "Vivid" alternately between 
the Bellevue, Philadelphia, and the Waldorf, New York. 
This long trip, made upon alternate days, necessitated the 
use of upward of one hundred horses, and the coaches kept 
their time surprisingly well, considering the sandy nature 
of many of the roads and the heat of the weather. 

The year 1895 saw the new coach "Pioneer" on the 
road from the Brunswick Hotel to the Westchester Country 
Club, Colonel Delancey Kane once more appearing on 
the box, associated with Messrs. Frederick Bronson and 
W. Seward Webb. A party of gentlemen, including Messrs. 
W. S. Catlin and G. R. Read, also put on the " Enterprise " 
to run from Rye to the Plaza Hotel, New York, and return 
daily; the same coach nmning in 1896 and 1897, under the 
proprietorship of G. R. Read, from Rye to Rye Lake, etc. 

The "Pioneer" again took the road, in 1898, from the 
Holland House, New York, to the Ardsley Club, Frederick 
Bronson, R. W. Rives and G. R. Read alternating on the 
box; and the same coach, managed by the same gentlemen 

225 



DRIVING 

for The Coaching Club, covered the same route in the years 
1899 and 1900. 

A. G. Vandervilt and R. W. Rives drove the "Pioneer" 
in 1 90 1 over its accustomed route between the Holland 
House and Ardsley, and in 1902 A. G. Vanderbilt had charge 
of the same vehicle over this road. 

Boston and vicinity were not without their undertakings 
in the road-coach line, for in 1890 and 1891 E. D. Beylard 
and friends put on the " Constitution, " to run between 
Boston and South Sudbury; while in 1892 T. Hitchcock, Jr., 
W. C. Eustis and E. D. Beylard ran the "Constitution" 
between Pride's Crossing, Massachusetts, and Pigeon Cove. 
Howard Brown put on the " Cricket " between Boston and 
South Sudbury in 1900, and again ran from the Hotel 
Touraine to the Wayside Inn in 1901. 

The "Essex" was put in commission by H. P. McKean, 
Max Agassiz and H. K. Caner, in 1902, between Pride's 
Crossing and Pigeon Cove. 

At Newport the "Aquidneck " was put on by H. A. Cary, 
W. R. Travers and F. M. Ware, in 1892, between the Casino 
and Tiverton, while in 1893 F. M. Ware and F. O. Beach 
ran the " Republic " between the Casino and the Golf Club. 

At Stonington, Connecticut, C. P. Williams, in 1901, 
drove the old "Tantivy" between Watch Hill and Fort 
Griswold. 

Clarence Moore and others were interested in a coach 
running out of Washington, District of Columbia, in the 
early nineties. 

W. Vernon Booth, J. H. Moore, S. C. Love and other 
gentlemen financed, in 1902, a coach from the Auditorium 
Hotel, Chicago, to the Onwentsia Club during the summer 
season. 

226 



AMERICAN ROAD-COACHING 

In 1 90 1 and 1902 R. F. Carman put on the coach 
"Reliance," between Sherry's, New York, and Morris Park, 
during the spring and fall race meetings, and in 1900 the 
same gentleman and others ran the " Monmouth " between 
Seabright and Deal Lake, New Jersey. 

In 1898 and 1899 Seward Gary ran the "Red Jacket" 
coach from Buffalo to Niagara Falls. 

During the years from 1898 to 1902 the "Good Times" 
coach ran from the Waldorf to various nearby points, and 
was backed by various gentleman, as G. B. Htihne, W. L. 
Beadleston, L. Kip, etc. 

About' 1899 H. K. Bloodgood and a friend ran a coach 
from Great Barrington to Pittsfield, Massachusetts. 

In 1885 E. Fownes and Harry Evans put on the old 
"Vivid" between Newport and Tiverton. 

Barclay Warburton drove a coach, in 1895 and 1896, 
from Philadelphia to Haverford, Pennsylvania. 

Several other public coaches, of which particulars are 
not at hand, have been placed in commission for brief periods 
during the past fifteen years, and have almost invariably 
been accorded liberal patronage. 

In 1903 the sport enjoyed an unprecedented boom, and 
at certain hours daily Fifth Avenue was vibrant with the 
merry music of the horn, while Seventh Avenue, with the 
various " change teams " waiting the arrival of their respective 
vehicle, presented a stirring spectacle of " down the road " 
life as exhilarating as it was novel. Various hostelries on 
Fifth Avenue were all agog twice daily to speed the depart- 
ing and welcome the returning coaches. The " Pioneer " 
(A. G. Vanderbilt and R. W. Rives, coachmen), the 
"Reliance" (R. F. Carman, coachman), the "Liberty" (J. H, 
Hyde, coachman), the "Freelance" and "Good Times" 

3S7 



DRIVING 

(W. H. Beadleston, Kearney, and others, coachmen), the 
"Squadron A" coach (G. Fahys and others, coachmen), 
the Westchester coach, etc., were all actively at work, keeping 
their time well, booking heavily, and well done throughout, 
and the various other routes over which they travelled were, 
bar the all-enveloping dust of a most arid springtime, both 
picturesque and rural of environment. 

The good this coaching activity of 1903 has done the 
sport will not so readily fade in memory or in effect. We 
have in abundance all the essentials of unsurpassed vehicles, 
inexpensive propelling power, good roads, attractive desti- 
nations, and an enthusiastic public, the only drawback being 
a lack of energy on the part of those who might and can 
afford to foster and promote such undertakings. 



228 



CHAPTER XXIV 

THE HEAVY-HARNESS HORSE 

It is fortunate for the purveyor, as for the consumer of 
horseflesh, that all tastes are not similar, and that ideas as 
to conformation, manners, deportment, pace and action vary 
widely. In no country is the public fancy so catholic as here, 
and nowhere are the animals used, for labour or for purposes 
of pleasure, in so many different methods and for such a 
wonderfully large variety of requirements. Even in relation 
to the heavy-harness horse, which only we will discuss here, 
his paths of usefulness range from the coach to the family 
carryall, from park to station work, from the elaborate 
brougham to the rough-and-ready doctor's bugg}^ 

As a general rule, it may be safely argued that we, as 
buyers, shall prove ourselves farsighted if we school ourselves 
to be satisfied with the steed handicapped with as few 
undesirable qualities as possible, rather than to ardently 
pursue that chimera of perfection in contour and in character 
which is so rarely encountered — so enormously expensive 
when attained. Even approach to it in greater or less degree 
hugely enhances values and renders the matter of purchase 
an exceedingly formidable investment, especially when it is 
borne in mind that exceptional quality in one's horse is 
generally the motive for increased outlay for vehicles and 
equipments to set off and to harmonise with his beauty. 
Blessed is he, therefore, who is, in these days of scarcity, 
easily satisfied, for he shall, in the balancing of his accounts, 
meet his just reward. 



DRIVING 

One essential, however, need never prove costly, be the 
subject's merit as high or as low as may be. The animal, 
whether for phaeton or plough, must be truly proportioned and 
harmoniously constructed. No fiddle-headed, gross-barrelled, 
slim-legged, cat-hammed, cow-hocked, splay-footed brutes 
should, or need, ever find sanctuary in the private stable, 
however unpretentious it and its owner may be. There is 
excellent reason for this — something beyond the mere " fitness 
of things" — for the well-proportioned horse is generally 
competent for his tasks; the harmony of his outline and the 
correctness of his structure insure that, and afford a genuine 
indication of personal merit. This quality impresses itself 
much more strongly upon the feminine than upon the 
masculine eye, and a woman will, even though she knows 
absolutely nothing of horses, prove astoundingly correct in 
her selections, and for no other reason than that the beast 
in question impresses her favourably, her educated eye 
accepting at once the true relative proportions which fail 
entirely to appeal to her worse half, whose fancies for this 
and that non-essential blind him to the vital importance 
of the ensemble. Thus, ever thus, with masterful man: 
matter must be reduced to the crudities of his individual 
conception before he will brand it as good and sufficient for 
his purposes. 

In the native horse of America — the trotting-bred horse — 
i. e., one in whose veins flows a preponderance or a moiety 
of the blood of the trotter — we possess an animal unique 
in his excellence at all purposes of work or pleasure: in field 
or on race-course, in peace or in war, in any climate and on 
any nourishment; imbued with good blood, high courage, 
and endurance from various sources and varieties, native 
and foreign; endorsed by the recognition, approval and eager 






THE HEAVY-HARNESS HORSE 

acquisition of all other nations; a creature that is to-day, 
as he shall ever be in years to come, regarded as among the 
most wonderful and successful developments of this extraor- 
dinary New World of ours. While he has been, through 
the enterprise and liberality of various importers and breeders 
of alien varieties, generously crossed with the Arab, the 
French coach-horse and French trotter, the hackney, the 
Cleveland bay, the German coach-horse, the Russian trotter, 
etc., he has gained little from, but has contributed much to, 
the descendants of such blending of strains and blood lines. 
His beauty is his own; his conformation is, in the best 
specimens, perfect, and so recognised by judges in the show- 
rings of all countries; his temper is, in any sex, amiable; his 
individuality is marked; his pace is of the most marvellous, 
as is his courage and endurance; while so unique is his 
versatility that the high action, which in the case of all 
other varieties is the evolution of years and generations of 
patient and skilful development, is, in the case of the American 
trotting horse, an almost instinctive latent possession, 
enduring in spite of all efforts to eradicate it, the outcome of 
his natural true balance and harmony of proportion. When 
one realises that so extraordinarily is this true of him that 
it is but necessary to shoe heavily, to change the poise by 
bitting, etc., for a few weeks (or even days), when hey, presto ! 
your low-going, daisy-cutting, 2 :2o trotter becomes as by a 
miracle the airy, high-stepping park and show horse, and 
that, by a reversal of the processes, he resumes his former 
carriage and pace — what more can one, or need one, write 
in laudation of his marvellous versatility ? What horse of 
what country can approach him? What need has he of 
infusion of any foreign blood, be it as meritorious as it may ? 
Much as we owe to the horse-shows which are now so 



DRIVING 

universal throughout the country, we for a time suffered 
hysteria to overcome us in the fancy for extravagant and 
useless action and pace in our selection of typical heavy- 
harness horses. Judges were carried away by the rapid and 
superlative development our home-bred horses evidenced. 
"Contortionists" and "acrobats" of all sizes (and shapes) 
were upheld as marvels, provided they could hurl their knees 
and forefeet to extraordinary altitudes; could "snatch" 
their hocks with the abruptness and awkwardness of the 
victim to string-halt (from which more than one of the elect 
sviffers) ; and could tear about a ring at a pace impossible 
and unlawful to pursue in park or on road. Like a fancy for 
caviar and decayed woodcock, this diseased and artificially 
acquired taste was, while the novelty lasted, insatiable, but 
the cloyed palate has finally rejected the unwholesome diet 
as unsatisfactory, and the level-going, nimble, true-actioned 
animal is again meeting the reward which is his due, alike 
from judges and from purchasers. 

The structure of our harness horse need not be as robust 
nor as heavily boned in proportion to his size and weight as 
we are accustomed to require in him and to insist upon in 
the hack and htmter. It must always be borne in mind 
that his bone is a good, dense, solid, well-bred, ivory-like 
substance, more enduring than that of greater amplitude 
characteristic of the coarse-bred varieties. The coarse- 
jointed beast, however, is not infrequently more strongly 
artictilated than the delicate and smoothly made one, and 
we may here note that the genuine "coarse-hock," which is 
a harmonious peculiarity very often of such a one, is ruggedly 
strong, and not to be regarded with the suspicion attaching to 
the " coarse " hock of the otherwise smooth- jointed animal, 
which is generally, in such connection, true spavin. 

232 



THE HEAVY-HARNESS HORSE 

These attributes should be small (in proportion) in a 
horse— his head, his ears; these should be large — his girth, 
his forearm, his width round the stifles and across the breech- 
ing, his knees and hocks, his eyes; these should be short — 
his cannon bones, his ears, his back; these shotild be long — 
his neck, his forearms and thighs, his ribs, his distance from 
elbow to stifle; these shoxold be broad — his brow, his loins, 
his feet, his hocks, his (upper) chest, his jaws, his nostrils; 
these should be narrow — ^his (lower) chest, his withers. 

The head should be well cut and finely placed upon a 
long, thin, arched, fine- throttled neck; wide at the jaws; fine 
and erect of ear; prominent and bold of eye; the arching 
neck running into a good and fairly sloping, broad shoulder; 
the withers high and narrow; the chest deep, and not so 
wide as to awkwardly affect the setting on of the legs at the 
elbows; these straight and clear of the body, neither turned 
in (insuring turning out of the toes, and consequently defec- 
tive action) or turned out (causing the pigeon-toed formation 
which is always equally objectionable) ; the forearm broad, 
thick, well-muscled, and long in proportion to the cannon 
bone (although many extravagant goers are very short here) ; 
and the cannon bone straight between the broad, flat knee 
and the well-placed fetlock; tlie pastern neither too short 
nor too long, running into black, tough hoofs, proportionately 
broad, open and sound. The short, gracefully curved back 
(although a pronounced dip is neither noticeable nor objection- 
able in heavy harness) ; the broad loins, well-muscled ; the 
long, symmetrical quarters and second thighs; the hock 
broad, clean, well-articulated, straight, resting evenly upon 
a broad, strong shank, running to pasterns set true and slightly 
more upright than those in front. A silky coat, and tail 
and mane of fine straight hair, indicate good birth. 



DRIVING 

In height the heavy -harness horse runs from 14.3 to 17 
hands, the generally acceptable sizes being from 14.3 to 16 — or 
rather under the latter height. Native buyers are nowadays 
reluctant to purchase extremely large horses for the reason 
that American carriages do not harmonise with nor demand 
them; that it is very difficult to procure a mate for a big 
horse; and that the very size of these giants proclaims the 
fact that they descend from some alien strain which has 
bequeathed them, together with its btdk, its lethargy, lack 
of pace, of action and of endurance. The landau, now 
falling into fashionable disuse, the family 'bus and the coach 
afford the only avenues of usefulness for the "big 'uns," 
and for the last two purposes smaller horses are fovmd 
more generally satisfactory. Horses are now regularly used 
on phaetons, victorias, broughams, etc., not more than from 
14.3 to 1 5. 1 hands, and even the gig-horse has been accepted as 
typical when but 14.35 high, while that is also the ideal size 
for runabout or other "light-heavy" harness work. These 
results are more rational than at first might be supposed, 
since a corresponding "miniaturing" of all sorts of American 
carriages and harnesses has accompanied, or resulted from, 
the general abandonment of the large and heavy old style 
of carriage horse. 

If there is such a thing as a "general purpose" horse, 
our native product nearly fills the bill. You can parade 
him through the park with the high-steppers and he is "all 
there " ; you may drive on up to the Speedway and brush with 
the flyers with fair success; you and the family can always 
"catch a train" with him in the coxmtry; he gives you a 
fair ride under the saddle ; while at a pinch he hauls the culti- 
vator in the garden or the rflowing machine on the lawn. 

" Absolute sotmdness " is a bugaboo to the average 
234 



THE HEAVY-HARNESS HORSE 

would-be buyer, a phrase which, parrot-Uke, he repeats, 
knowing no good reasons for his insistence, but fearing to 
accept an animal which the verdict of the veterinary surgeon 
fails to absolutely approve as sound in every way — careless 
or ignorant of the fact that no such animal really exists, 
and that if he did a very few weeks' or months' usage would 
relegate him to the "practically sotmd" division, as even 
such immaterial blemishes as wire-marks and wind-galls wUl 
serve to do. As a matter of fact, decided departures from 
this condition often in no possible manner affect a horse's 
usefulness. Of course, his wind should be sound, although 
even here the "whistler" and the "grunter" are, for certain 
kinds of carriage work, perfectly appropriate, and he is not 
incapacitated by such almost imnoticeable -infirmities. 
Heaves, which is a disease of the lungs requiring a violent 
muscular action of the diaphragm to expel the air which the 
destroyed or enfeebled air-cells fail to do, of course directly 
interferes with usefulness. Eyes should be good, although 
the loss of one by an accident is no detriment to service. 
Ophthalmia and other progressive diseases of the organ are 
of course to be rejected. Wind-galls or enlarged bursae 
rarely cause trouble, and thorough-pin belongs in the same 
category. 

Splints are, while in process of growth (or when grown) 
between the larger bones of the leg, or iinder or near a tendon, 
a prolific cause of unsoundness. Once growth stops, however, 
Natiire adapts herself to changed conditions, and little harm 
results. Always to be regarded with suspicion on young 
and immature horses, they cause little or no trouble to the 
mattire animal, providing growth has ceased, and partake 
merely of the character of a blemish. 

Bone spavin is serious when the mechanical action of the 



DRIVING 

joint is impeded by the growth, when the process of maturing 
causes acute inflammation, and when the joint itself becomes 
anchylosed. Many horses may be found working on in 
perfect comfort after the growth has been "killed" by firing, 
etc., and practically sound. Bog or blood spavin is merely 
a varicose condition of the large vein running over in front 
of the hock. 

Curbs constitute blemishes only after the lameness accom- 
panying the intense inflammation of the rupture or sprain 
has passed. Any horse may " spring " one, but, of course, 
the weak, crooked hindleg is more susceptible to this injury 
than that of normal shape. Curbs and splints almost 
invariably diminish or disappear entirely with age, and the 
fact that another cannot appear at the place where one 
already exists is a consolation to the captious. A high- 
heeled shoe will, except in the most acute cases, enable 
the victim to curb to keep on in work. 

String-halt is, by a modern operation of dividing a nerve, 
generally curable, and the operation will only lay a horse 
up for two weeks or thereabouts. 

Interfering, speedy-cutting, knee-hitting, etc., are all 
consequences of malformation, and preventable by proper 
shoeing and by suitable boots. 

Corns, quarter-cracks, quitters, etc. (now very rare), 
are mostly to be alleviated by intelligent care of the feet 
and suitable shoeing, and horses thus afflicted may work 
on at the hardest labour for years. Ring-bones, as augmented 
by concussion and as affecting the action of the joint, are 
very often serious impediments to usefulness, at least at 
fast work, and while firing may help them, one can never 
be sure that the growth is definitely checked. Side-bone 
produces acute lameness, and, through the change it causes in 

236 



THE HEAVY-HARNESS HORSE 

the cartilaginous structure of the coronet, is never curable, 
nerving being the only palliative. Navicular disease is very 
common and is a destructive form of unsoundness, although 
even with this trouble horses work on indefinitely. For the 
two latter troubles, as for several others, the operation of 
neurotomy is thoroughly practical and a great boon to the 
suffering equine. Horses nowadays are nerved for all sorts 
of unsoundness, and the operation, with the assistance of 
cocaine, is both brief and painless. Frequently the division 
is made even as high as the chest, between the forelegs, 
and many animals are working to-day in perfect freedom 
from pain, and enjoying to the full that life which is pre- 
sumably as sweet to them as ours is to us. Contrary to 
general prejudice, it is a necessary and merciful operation. 

Firing is another much-misunderstood proceeding, which 
by its action and effect provides not only a powerful temporary 
counterirritant, but a perpetual and inelastic bandage and 
support to the parts. Under modem processes its blemishes 
are slight, and there is no reason for the prejudice which 
exists against the operation and the indelible marks it leaves. 
Thousands of animals are limping about their daily tasks 
which the application of the merciful iron would render 
practically sound. 

Enlarged legs, if resulting from injury to the sheath of 
the tendon, etc., will probably demand firing to be surely 
trustworthy. Enlarged joints, unless caused by osselets, 
are, like wind-galls, merely honourable marks of hard work 
done, and, if one does not mind the appearance, generally of 
little detriment to harness work; and the same may be said 
of sprung knees, cockled ankles, etc. None of these 
departures from soundness will especially concern the fortu- 
nate individual whose purse enables him always to secure 

237 



DRIVING 

the best regardless of cost, but there is a huge majority of 
other horse-consumers who fear to invest in anything to 
which the appellation " soimd " may not properly apply, 
and who overlook thereby many excellent, serviceable and 
inexpensive bargains. 

Of the vices which the charioteer will generally meet, 
the most common are running away, shying, balking and 
kicking. Of the first infirmity one can only advise that the 
perpetrator be immediately destroyed as the only safeguard 
against a repetition of the act because of the panic which may, 
at any moment, again overcome the foolish and timid creature. 
Of shying one can only say that, as "familiarity breeds con- 
tempt," the subject is to be thoroughly familiarised with 
any objects he fears; and that if he fears everything, or most 
things, his eyes are at fault, and he is either to be disposed of 
or driven with a blind across or inside the blinkers, which 
prevents him from seeing anything but the ground in front 
of his feet, the same arrangement being serviceable with 
a runaway if he must be used. The balker is always curable, 
given patience and a determination to outlast him at his 
game; and such a horse, once conquered, is generally an 
excellent, resolute and high-couraged creature. To start 
him, do anything to divert his attention — for the horse is an 
animal of one idea — and whatever you do, never whip him. 
He will rarely persevere in double harness, whatever he does 
in single. The kicker must be kept at hard work and always 
checked high, and thoroughly kicking-strapped if he is 
to be safely used, but he had far better be passed along 
to the cab or grocer's wagon which awaits him, as he is 
never to be trusted. 

The young horse is never to be desired for family carriage 
purposes. His years preclude the possession of that experi- 

238 



THE HEAVY-HARNESS HORSE 

ence and steadiness tinder all circumstances which we should 
insist upon in such as are to be used by our loved ones. He 
also has all his physical trials and ills before him, and it is 
foolish to risk his passing through these hazards at your ex- 
pense. Far better for every reason the sedate and worldly- 
wise beast of from eight to ten or even twelve years, and he 
will under ordinary conditions render good service for eight 
or ten years longer — then deserving at your hand a merciful 
and painless end and a decent and respectful burial. 

The age of the horse is plainly indicated, up to the age 
of six years, by the development of the teeth, and the same 
is generally though not always true of the mouth at seven 
and eight years. Crib-biting and other attrition will greatly 
change appearance and destroy the marks. Other indications, 
as the hoUowness above the eyes, the length, angle and coloiir 
of the teeth, etc., afford to the expert fairly reliable clues 
on which to hazard a good guess after this age, but it can only 
be surmised. The " gyp " dealers employ various artifices to 
simulate youth, but these tricks are unworthy consideration 
here, nor are any of our readers likely to come in contact 
with these gentry. 

From ten to fifteen miles a day is none too much for the 
healthy horse, provided the pace be moderate; and, once a 
horse is in condition, he will do better and last longer if he is 
maintained always in such order than if annually turned out 
for the summer or winter months, with the haphazard care he 
usually receives. His muscles grow flabby at such times, 
and it takes months to get him again into the condition of 
exuberant health which regular grooming and proper feed 
insure. We have made him to a great extent an artificial 
animal, and he does not need nor relish the relapse into 
primitive conditions which, with mistaken kindness, we force 

239 



DRIVING 

upon him. Two hours a day, six days a week, are none too 
much for him, year in and year out, and at times, with advan- 
tage to himself, much more severe labour may be exacted 
of him. We keep horses to use, and the odd part of it is 
that we do not half use them, but kill more with pampering 
than we ever do with work. 

The horse's stomach is small, and frequent moderate 
feeds are thereby indicated. They do well on three meals a 
day, but there is no doubt that four would be to their diges- 
tion's advantage. The best of food materials are now obtain- 
able everywhere and at most reasonable figures. Deep 
straw beds should always be provided, clean, dr}^ and sweet, 
and the tmwholesome peat moss shunned with the greatest 
care. A few roots or apples, a little grass, a sod to gnaw at 
(which will be greatly relished and will sweeten the stomach), 
an ample supply of salt, with sugar and cheap molasses for 
change flavourings, will keep your humble servants contented 
and healthy. Water should be always within their reach 
day and night, especially at night after and during a 
hearty meal of dry hay. These matters, and those relating 
to stalls, ventilation, etc., occupy another chapter in this book. 

Everybody, man, woman or child, should understand 
the salient points of a horse's character and be able to form 
an approximate estimate of an animal's disposition after 
some study of its habits and general features. In fact, no 
one can become a good driver until he knows how to judge 
the animal he is to guide. To be able to distinguish a horse 
of a gentle disposition from one inclined to be tricky or 
vicious is indispensable. 

The eye and the ear are the two principal features to 
be closely regarded as the indices to the tractability and 
gentleness of the animal. 

240 



THE HEAVY-HARNESS HORSE 

A clear eye of moderate size should be sought after as 
indicating obedience and intelligence. A horse having a 
set, staring eye is almost sure to shy as being near-sighted, 
and to be foolishly frightened without cause. As in man, 
breadth between the eyes indicates good judgment. Large 
full eyes always belong to a kindly natured animal, just as 
small eyes drawn up at the corners indicate a cunning horse, 
never to be depended upon under the most favourable 
circumstances. 

The ear should be regarded with care, as its attitude 
and movements telegraph the workings of the animal's brain. 

Horses which habitually hold their ears in one position 
are usually dull, stupid creatures, slow of gait, and not to 
be hurried by any amount of coaxing or urging. Ofttimes 
deafness or difficulty in hearing can be determined by watch- 
ing a horse's ears, which will remain immovable and undis- 
turbed when any sudden noise occurs, plainly indicating 
that the animal is unaware of any unusual sound. 

Some trainers of horses have pet theories that the colour 
of a horse has something to do with his disposition, claiming 
that chestnuts and sorrels are likely to be high-strimg 
creatures, and giving grey horses credit for docility. It is also 
contended that colour has much to do with the comfort of 
the animal when exposed to the sun's rays, especially in the 
summer season, but observations have not demonstrated the 
truth of this supposition, as it has been clearly shown that 
dark horses are able to do just as mtich work without showing 
fatigue as those of a lighter colour. This may be accounted 
for by the fact that the coat is a non-conductor within 
certain limits, so that it probably makes little difference 
what colour it is so far as the temperature of the parts 
beneath is concerned. 



DRIVING 

In the education, mouthing and mannering of our heavy- 
harness horses the characteristic American impetuosity 
is abundantly in evidence. Haste and haphazard signahse 
all such proceedings, and for every pupil "made" there are 
several marred beyond redemption. Unlike other countries, 
most of our raw material has been trained in quite a different 
school and under essentially varying methods from the 
curriculum appropriate to work in heavy leather, and, as a 
consequence, we are called upon not only to correct and 
obliterate such instruction, but to accomplish this with an 
animal mature in years, set and developed in a certain car- 
riage and action; and to attempt to work, in a few days or 
hours, the reform which might well occupy months of patience 
and skill. What wonder, then, that ptdlers, one-rein drivers, 
sidelong-goers, over-reachers and interferers are as common 
as they are. The young horse, fresh from the farm or the 
trotting-track and the open bridle, easy and intelligible 
snaffle-bit, overdraw check and comfortable breeching, 
which have been his accouterments thereon, finds himself 
suddenly caparisoned in an enormous-blinkered heavy bridle, 
a most confusing combination of straight bit, curb-chain 
and gag-check, and discovers that no longer must he hold 
back his vehicle by his quarters, but most tmcomfortably by 
a sometimes sharp crupper under his tail and a frequently 
narrow girth tightly drawn about his body, the pressure 
causing the saddle sometimes to painfully pinch and bruise 
his withers. The signal to advance has hitherto been a 
gentle " c'lk," or a movement of the bit in his mouth; now he 
receives a more or less sharp cut from a whip he cannot see ; 
and some idiotic command like " Pull up ! " (which may be 
early English, but is utterly unintelligible to him). Bounding 
forward at this unexpected treatment, he is met by a jab in 



THE HEAVY-HARNESS HORSE 

the mouth and a sharp pinch under the chin from the heavy 
bit and curb-chain. Flying back to escape the pain, he 
receives another blow, and, as he finally starts off, is amazed 
to feel a pull upon one lower side of his mouth which is also 
felt upon the other upper side, and in equal degree ! What 
this portends he has no idea, and while he hesitates in 
bewilderment, various cuts from the whip compel him to 
turn first one way and then the other, until he chances to hit 
it off correctly, and is enabled to figure out that, of the two 
pressures, he must disregard one, and that he can easiest do 
so by opening his mouth and allowing the bit to slide about. 
He also finds that pressure under the chin, which in the days 
of overhead-check and jaw-strap meant " Hold up yotu- head 
and straighten your neck," now means, as interpreted by 
the curb-chain, " Hold in your nose and arch your crest, " or 
worse will follow — and it is a grand tribute to his intelligence 
that he so successfully solves the riddle in as many cases as 
results prove that he does. What wonder -that occasionally 
in desperation he balks, kicks, throws himself, and other- 
wise testifies his distress and bewilderment? Especially 
when his freshly docked tail is aching, his sensitive mouth 
and its bars are horribly bruised, and his harness is so novel 
and so uncomfortable. Should his mouth be deeply bruised 
in these first lessons (?), and should his owner continue to 
drive him, he quickly discovers that his surest road to relief 
from acute agony is to pull hard until the combination of bit 
and tight ctirb-chain have destroyed all sensation in mouth 
and jaw. 

The heavy-harness horse should, to be really first-class 
in his business, gradually be initiated in the intricacies of his 
new stirroundings, and time given him not only to make a 
satisfactory mouth, but to acquire that change of poise, 

243 



DRIVING 

balance and carriage which his environments demand and 
his heavy shoes, etc., compel. The " dimib-jockey " must 
be regularly and for brief intervals applied, and he must be 
allowed to develop the new neck muscles which his new 
posture will heavily draw upon. He shovild never be tightly 
"borne up" by the check at first, but should be allowed 
first to thoroughly warm and supple his muscles by exercise; 
or better still, be driven in a moderate check, if one is used, 
and, when returned from exercise and taken from the carriage, 
be checked up high and left for fifteen minutes or so to bend 
and "make" himself by yielding to its pressure — which he 
will readily do, as, in his condition, it causes him no 
pain to yield. 



CHAPTER XXV 

TYPE FOR PURPOSE 

The horse of the period is always such as the period 
requires and as the utiUtarian and fashionable public of that 
epoch endorses for certain given purposes. Horse shows 
have up to date (1903) been popidar in America for nineteen 
years, but complaint is constantly made that no standard 
types have as yet been arrived at by show judges and accepted 
as correct by the buying public. That this is true is indis- 
putable, but that it is the natural outcome of constantly 
changing conditions and requirements is not generally recog- 
nised. Severe critics have blamed officials, and these latter 
have been subject to constant shifts through dissatisfaction 
of executives and their more or less exhaustive efforts to 
reach some satisfactory conclusion. The judges them- 
selves, in their efforts to forestall criticism and to anticipate 
the vagaries of taste and the rapidity of change, have proved 
as frequently too progressive as too conservative, and con- 
fusion of type, not only in general results but among the 
ribbon-bearers, has resulted. This tendency on the part of 
the officials has created uncertainty not only among those 
who buy for the market, but among the purchasers them- 
selves, who, considering the show-ring as affixing the standard, 
search vainly for the qualifications therein endorsed. It 
has often been said that if the same man or men were to 
judge year after year a definite standard would be reached, 
but this has not eventuated, although occasionally the desired 
conditions have obtained, because the material on view varies 



DRIVING 

so greatly, and judges usually have great difficxilty in following 
a type -through the four ribbons if a high order of merit in 
other respects is to obtain. 

Had show classifications been originally founded on type, 
not upon height distinction, it is probable that intelligent 
advance would have been more general, and that we should 
by this time have found the judicial efforts bearing fruit, 
not only in stable, park and road, but in pasture and stud. 
Certain shapes of mares would, on retirement from active 
service, have been valuable for breeding purposes; certain 
stallions would have proved so generally recognised as 
typical for special purposes that their progeny would have 
brought handsome returns; certain breeds and strains of 
blood would have been endorsed for the same reasons — 
whereas, to-day everything is haphazard; like does not pro- 
duce like, nor even necessarily the likeness of some immediate 
ancestor, and type fluctuates like the tides of the sea. 

When type first began to receive recognition the public 
eye was led astray by false proportion, and by a craze for ex- 
travagant action through studying, as no other models were at 
hand, the more or less illy-drawn old prints which were on 
sale. Horses were so plentiful and so cheap in America at 
the time, and the trotting-bred horse proved so adaptable 
to new surroundings and requirements, that it was possible 
to find in quantity animals which very closely resembled 
these creatures of the imagination. Forthwith the American 
type, long of leg, body and neck, flowing of mane and tail — 
narrow everywhere — and generally undesirable, was cast 
aside, and the sturdy, short-legged, round-quartered, blocky 
shape became the rage, even as the athletic girl ousted 
from her position in mascviline admiration the clinging, 
shrinking, retiring damsel of an earlier period; in both 

246 



TYPE FOR PURPOSE 

cases the types being totally opposite, and due to changed 
conditions and tastes. 

With the change of fashion in the form required in horses 
came a variation in that of vehicles. The long tails which are 
so appropriate — so absolutely necessary, in fact, for screens 
against dust and stones and filth — as appendages to animals 
attached to any of our American four-wheeled vehicles, 
and which so harmonised with the general effect of the 
flowing lines of these carriages and the slight harness used, 
gave place to the docked tail ; the English and French carriages 
or their American-built imitations replaced the light and 
serviceable equipages as the foreign makes of harness replaced 
the native. Dissatisfied with home fashions, products and 
requirements, and overlooking the advances of native civilisa- 
tion, we adopted wholesale the vehicles, etc., approved by the 
most conservative nations on earth, and retired to fashions 
at least fifty years behind the times. These, however, 
we are now slowly modifying to the totally different reqtiire- 
ments of our native environment. 

" Type-f or-purpose " has, despite all difficulties, now, 
however, become a recognised grade in all the wholesale 
and retail marts of the country. If one enters a sale stable 
he asks for a "runabout" horse, a "brougham" horse, a 
" phaeton " pair, and qualifies his reqmrements of height 
and shape in no way. The dealer knows just what he means 
and produces the article if he has it, and these demarkations 
are very distinct — as for instance one of an excellent phaeton 
pair may be by no means a runabout horse, and vice versa; 
and a brougham horse is not essentially a crack park coach 
wheeler. This tacit understanding, however, it must be 
confessed, arises not so much through the mutual acceptance 
of a certain type by buyer and seller, as because the buyer 



DRIVING 

demands a horse for a certain purpose, and when the dealer 
leads out his offering the former accepts the latter's endorse- 
ment as correct, so that the dealer really fixes the type. 

It is gratifying to find that in one most noticeable point 
not only are buyers insistent, but dealers are able to satisfy the 
demand. This is in the matter of " quality, " and it may be 
safely said that in this possession the American horse of to-day, 
of all breeds and for all pvirposes, stands far in advance of 
his confreres. 

"Quality," roughly speaking, is individuality: a high 
order of physical and mental development; an external 
harmony and delicacy of outline corresponding to the nervous 
personality, accompanied always by good breeding (of its 
kind, whether thoroughbred or cart horse), and signalised 
by a mysterious something which no one yet has ever been 
able to define — an essence as impressive as it is impalpable. 
"Quality" is always the principal ingredient of distinctive 
type, thus of two horses exactly alike to outward seeming, 
one proves a typical gig horse, the other is never so acknowl- 
edged. Quality it is which brings the dollars, and it is 
tmquestionably the most valuable possession of the animal; 
without it all other excellences fail of highest appreciation. 

Given this essential (quality, individuality, nervous 
energy, personal magnetism, fine finish, etc.), the next typical 
requisite is action, and here we have forsaken the level plain 
of common sense and adaptability for the realms of hysteria 
and the vagaries of the hasheesh victim. Up and ever up 
has been the trend of required action, until equine con- 
tortionists lacking every quality but that of frantically and 
foolishly pawing the air have been hailed as marvels; mis- 
shapen, awkward, unmanageable beasts that, bar this 
ability, wovild never for one moment have received encour- 

248 



I 



TYPE FOR PURPOSE 

agement. The true, all-round, level goer has been set aside 
for years, but recent developments would seem to show that 
he is likely to come into his own at last. 

Ridiculous as have been our demands in action, we have 
proceeded to even more extraordinary lengths in pace, until 
nowadays a heavy brougham horse, which the law forbids to 
progress at more than seven miles an hour in city or park, 
must " step away " and show an ability to beat a three-minute 
gait, and to pull his load at that pace. Any one who buys 
something he does not need and cannot use is generally a 
laughing-stock, but the fashionable buyer insists upon this 
ability in his horse as though he were some light and nimble 
"train-catcher" calculated for country depot work. 

Conformation has reached a point where it is allowed 
that every horse must carry a finely cut and well-eared head 
and boldly borne neck; that his "top-line" must be good; 
his ribs well sprung; his tail set in high, and well carried; 
his quarters deep and filling his breeching well; his hips 
generally round (but frequently very ragged, and his loin 
slack as an accompaniment) ; and one often finds that this 
satisfies the eye, and that long spindle, crooked legs, splay or 
contracted or "meaty heeled" feet, and action villainously 
winding and untrue, are passed over and eagerly accepted, 
provided those members are hurled about at random alti- 
tudes, even hurtling through the air in a manner which leads 
the observer to expect dissolution of the equine framework. 
Thick or thin, leggy or not, grotesque or graceful, if they 
can " step and go " eager competitors are found for their 
possession, and cheques are gladly signed in exchange for 
nearly as many dollars as the purchases actually possess 
faults and shortcomings. 

Type should be appropriate, not only to the size 



DRIVING 

but to the lines of the vehicle for which the animal is 
intended. The landau pair should be not only tall, but long 
in proportion ; rather dipped in the back ; long-tailed, or docked 
and wearing a long switch a la jrancaise; graceful, especially 
when standing ; deliberate of movement ; and these character- 
istics must attend all strictly high-class heavy-carriage horses, 
as those for broughams, etc. Victoria horses may be 
smaller in every way and more active. Phaeton horses are 
very similar to those for victoria use, but faster, smarter, 
and quicker-actioned. The hansom and the runabout horse 
must have speed in plenty, and as much all-round action as 
may be; the hansom horse, of course, being larger (up to 
15.3 or so), as being in better proportion, although many 
people prefer much smaller horses for this vehicle. The 
park coach horse is, for a wheeler, a carriage horse of landau 
type; for leader, a phaeton sort. The road-coacher should 
be sturdy, thick, well-moving and able to go along, and the 
team about of equal size. 

In a general way the outlines are the same for all heavy- 
harness horses, but as a stately poise and rather leisurely 
movement must characterise the large horse, so, as the scale 
descends in size and the labour lightens, should activity 
increase, pace accelerate, and snappy, nervous alertness 
displace the rather phlegmatic movement. We have not as 
yet learned to appreciate at its full value the necessity of a 
dignified character in our larger heavy-harness horses, and 
our demands upon such animals for speed and activity are 
singularly ill-judged. 

Naturally, bodily condition has much to do with present- 
ing that roundness of contour which is so pleasing to the 
eye, and flesh, like charity, covers a multitude of sins. Car- 
riage horses should always be in the height of physical con- 

250 



TYPE FOR PURPOSE 

dition, that not only may the bulk, which the native horse 
lacks, be exaggerated, but the crests kept up and the 
forehands and quarters made to appear as bold in the one 
case and as solid in the other as possible. That we have 
been educated by the horse shows to accepting an over- 
fattened beast as "conditioned" is true, but the practice 
has merits in that Nature arranges a better contour in 
the fat than in the thin horse. 

The question of " height for purpose " is ever a btiming 
one, and divers indeed are the opinions. It certainly seems 
logical that the animal should appear and should be able to 
handle his load easily — not only to "look the part," but to 
do the work. Still there is a further step into the eternal 
fitness of things which we might all take, and which should 
impel us to see that the horse not only harmonises with his 
tasks and equipment, but with the people he is expected to 
draw. It is horribly ill- done to turn out a lady's phaeton 
with a tall horse or pair at which she must peer up, and 
which must drive clumsily from the fact that the reins have 
no direct tension. It certainly looks odd to behold a six- 
foot man driving in a runabout a 14.2 horse. It is hardly 
in line to meet two large men in a full-sized gig holding the 
reins over a 14.3 horse — although equines of that size have 
been hailed as champion gig horses. Surely one little horse 
is not likely to pull two big men far and fast and up and down 
hill in either runabout or gig — both strictly utility vehicles 
for long journeys ; and while he may as an individual perform 
the feat, that does not affect the question in the abstract as to 
whether 14.3 or so is the "height for type" for such work, 
any more than that the docility of a big phlegmatic pair 
before the lady's phaeton makes them desirable as typical 
phaeton horses. 



DRIVING 

Our native mechanics have nowadays attained such 
marvellous proficiency in lightening the weights of all car- 
riages while maintaining their lines and general effect that 
there exists no longer any need for the bulk before the vehicle 
which of yore was demanded. Good and improving roads 
everywhere also lend their aid to this result; still these 
facts hardly allow us in proportion to claim that lighter 
animals are in good form, since that is hardly the case; the 
truth being that, once overbalanced and overweighted, our 
horses are now assimiing due proportion to their vehicles 
and trappings. 



953 



CHAPTER XXVI 

BREEDING THE CARRIAGE HORSE 

A YOUNG farmer who was about to embark in the breeding 
of trotters wrote to an old and experienced friend asking him 
what was the best way to go about it, and the answer is 
worth quoting. " Dear Sir," it ran. " The best way to breed 
trotters is to let somebody else breed them." The same 
advice would apply with equal strength to the undertaking 
of a similar task in connection with any other horse, and it 
is emphatically a matter only for the yoting, enthusiastic 
and persevering to enter upon. We are not all so sanguine as 
the ancient Yorkshireman (of eighty-five years) who growled 
to a friend: "Ay, mon, theer's nobbut a odd 'unter or two to 
find these days. Ah'll away an' breed a few"; and so many 
disappointments beset the novice that, as a usual thing, his 
patience is not long-lived enough to outlast the chagrin 
which the disappointing results of his first crop or two entail. 
Again, we all are prone to be saddled with a fad for some 
special bloodlines and some pet combinations of pedigree 
which have, in carriage -horse breeding at least, little or noth- 
ing to do with the case at issue ; or we engage some professional, 
or listen to some amateur adviser similarly handicapped, 
governed in the one case possibly by the hope of pecuniary 
profit and in the other by the same false gods which the tyro 
himself worships. 

If we will take the advice given at the head of this 
chapter and "let somebody else breed them," picking up 
at various ages from yearlings up to four-year-olds what of 

2S3 



DRIVING 

their products are suitable for our purposes, we shall certainly 
attain our ends more quickly, more sensibly, and probably 
much more cheaply; more quickly, because we are saved 
the delay of waiting to collect a stud, breed them, and raise 
the produce; more sensibly, because we shall attain the 
maximum of result with the minimum of outlay ; more cheaply, 
because we thus save from two to five years, and because we 
have no barren mares to keep, few accidents to face, and no 
failures to record of young things growing every way but the 
right one, and developing all the faults and none of the merits 
possible to their kind. Thus one quickly enters upon the 
realisation of mishaps, and can proceed with the handling 
of his youngsters forthwith, being able to market them and 
to find out how his balance stands much more speedily than 
in any other way. Nothing is more certain than the fact 
that, whatever you thus pay for your colts, you do not return 
to their breeder the actual expenses of raising them to the 
age they have attained, and, like most other animals that are 
bred, the breeder gets all the worst of it, save in those excep- 
tional cases where the odd youngster or two which turns out 
really first class brings enough money to pay for various 
failures recorded against his fellow infants. Nothing has 
made more havoc among the farmers of the country than the 
fact that occasionally one of them would breed a fast horse 
which sold for a big price. Forthwith everything in that 
neighbourhood, or on that farm anyway, was subordinated 
to the raising of whatever kind of colt had thus made a hit, 
and not only were the aged and the cautious overcome by 
this " get-rich-quick-and-easy " demonstration, but the youth 
of the vicinity were inoculated with a love for fast horses, etc., 
which kept many a hand out of the cornfields and brought 
many an extra lounger to adorn the cracker barrels in the 



BREEDING THE CARRIAGE HORSE 

store at the "Four Comers." Of course, this has not been 
the way with the carriage-horse breeder, because no one but a 
wealthy man with a fad to gratify has as yet essayed the 
task of breeding such animals. 

The invasion of the wealthy at any legitimately agricul- 
tural pursuit has always proved a serious handicap locally 
for that special industry; and while his entry into it has in- 
variably awakened an era of false values and an enormous 
boom in prices, his defection, once the fad had burnt itself 
out, was as surely the signal for as unreasonable a depreciation, 
as he and his ilk unloaded their failures upon a market which 
was itself feeble and in embryo; whUe the usual appearance 
and condition of the animals then disposed of was quite 
sufficient in itself to give the business a black eye and to 
bring it into general contempt. The huge prices such a 
fancier always paid for his nucleus of breeding animals were 
also never of any special value to the breeders and farmers 
of the country, for the reason that he bought through middle- 
men, who made all the profit, and that he generally dabbled 
partly or entirely with horses from foreign countries, so that 
his outlay represented just so much money withdrawn from 
general circulation here. Again, his advent in a neighbour- 
hood created false values upon real estate and raised havoc 
in the local labour market, as none of the resident farmers 
could afford to compete with him in wages paid; while the 
"object-lessons" which he tried to afford them as to "how 
to do things " awakened, not their admiration and emulation, 
btit their discontent and jealousy. These have been the 
almost invariable concomitants of the rich man's venture 
into breeding and farming, and his departure in disgust from 
the field had another harmful element in it, in that he loudly 
bewailed his misfortunes and failures and thus kept others 



DRIVING 

from venturing upon an undertaking which had for him, after 
vast outlay of money, time, and intelligence, proven so dis- 
hearteningly disappointing. No such man ever blamed him- 
self and his methods, but always other elements over which 
he had no control. Shorthorn cattle. Jerseys, trotters, race- 
horses, hackneys, sheep, dogs, etc., all passed through these 
periods of inflation and explosion, and each and every one 
of these species may well exclaim, " If such be kindly, deliver 
us from our friends." 

Naturally enough, the stallion is the initial factor in any 
such enterprise — and curiously (yet logically) it is he which 
almost invariably is the actual cause of bringing about the 
dismal failures and the boundless disgust with which the 
records of breeding are crowded. Just what kink it is which 
induces a man to stick to some special stallion through thick 
and thin would be curious to find out, and upon no point 
is the breeder more touchy. You may insinuate that his 
mares are not this and that and he will not violently object; 
you may find fault with buildings, fields, feed, handling — 
what you will — but beware how you for a moment breathe 
a syllable derogatory to the transcendant merits of the sire 
or sires he has selected to head his stud. Possibly he will 
agree that his mares do not sxoit or "nick" with the horse, 
but never dare murmtir that that paragon does not suit the 
mares (nor anything else outside of a shorthorn herd or 
a lobster cannery !), or it will be "you and me to the mat" 
at once. This notion is the more odd inasmuch as the stallion 
often costs no more than some of the mares, if as much, and 
frequently has nothing on earth to recommend him to 
his owner but the fact that he is his personal property and 
individual selection. 

Rationally, the stallion shotild be the very last animal 
256 



BREEDING THE CARRIAGE HORSE 

that the breeder should acquire; and in nine cases out of ten 
he is better off with no sire at all, sending his mares to various 
horses and mating individuals according to their respective 
merits and deficiencies. Such a breeder has no fad to gratify, 
and can look at a stallion with the cold eye and hesitating 
admiration of the man who does not own him — and no better 
way can be found to appraise any horse. His mares are 
distributed hither and yonder if suitable stallions are not ac 
hand, and they can be kept as cheaply by other breeders as 
the breeder can do it himself, while he is saved all the bother 
and cost of maintaining his sire or sires, besides running 
no risk with him; and tying up no money in him, finds the 
payment of outside service fees not as expensive as keeping 
his own horse at home. 

Figtire this out and prove it. Suppose you credit your 
horse with $25 for each mare — which is as much as the sort 
of horse you would breed to wotild command anywhere. If you 
have from ten to twenty mares there is no argument possible, 
for you have the interest on cost, insurance, the horses' keep, 
shoeing, etc., and probably a special man to charge against 
the $250 — $500 you would credit him with. Keep him as 
cheaply as may be, it can't be done under $800 — $1,000 per an- 
num; and at that, age causes depreciation, while his risk as 
a perishable commodity is great. If you have from thirty to 
fifty mares or more the ratio of chance is all against his 
mating well with at best more than fifty per cent, of them; 
and against him must reasonably be charged the failures for 
which he is sponsor. 

For mares nothing better can be found than the trotting 
or trotting-bred (possessing more or less trotting blood) 
mares foimd in this coiontry. These shovild all be of a size, 
shape, and colour (unless some small mare is known to "breed 

257 



DRIVING 



^1 



big"), and enough alike for any two to make a presentable 
pair. This does not, of course, insure similar result in their 
offspring, but like mint in a julep it "does no harm," and 
tends to uniformity of type in the produce. The average 
stud contains no two mares the least alike in any respect — 
and as results in products are similar, why may not the reverse 
also prove true? Mares not vxnder 15.2, with good heads and 
necks, even if shy in finish elsewhere, good bone, big frames, 
well ribbed and coupled, hocks under them and sound, good 
feet, prompt, active, lively, and ambitious, fair to good all- 
round action, but at all events betraying a decided tendency 
to flex the hocks well, up-headed and bold-fronted, carrying 
no (or very little) white, and from families that run good- 
sized for a few generations back, are the kind to stock up 
with. The horse, if one is kept, must be similar to them in 
type and finish, with some speed, and ambition to make 
more; action at both ends, sound, and of good pose, standing 
or moving, active, true in motion, prompt and quick — a 
masculine-looking horse (beware the feminine horse and the 
masculine mare). The more speed he has the better, but he 
must have ambition to go faster, whatever his pace, and be 
" all horse " in every feature — a " he horse " anyway you take 
him. 

The animals named are, of course, either strictly trotting 
bred or full of trotting blood — two very different terms. 
It does not seem worth while to consider any other animals 
for the purpose. Imported horses have been failures if pure 
bred, and as crosses, far from advancing the transcendant 
merits of our native animal, have set back years those who 
have patronised them. The hackney is a failure so far as 
general restilts go. We have bred him here for twenty years 
or more — and where is he? Certainly not visible anywhere. 

258 



BREEDING THE CARRIAGE HORSE 

The French coach horse has given us a few, a very few, 
desirable animals for heavy-carriage work, but he lacks in 
pace and tends in the half-bred to be coarse; nor has the 
French trotter done much better, as a recent disastrous 
experiment conducted in Kentucky by a wealthy horse- 
fancier has proved. The other coach breeds imported have 
been completely lost in the shufHe, outbred and outlived. 
Whether these specimens were all of the best sorts of their 
respective countries we do not surely know, but at all events 
they were so guaranteed and advertised. The Russians 
imported have proved dull, soft, leggy, fiat-sided brutes. 

After all, why should we seek extraneous aid ? Or what 
have we to gain from it ? Allowing that our native type of 
heavy-harness horse is not perfect, neither have we found 
any other so. Admitting that he is not the type foreigners 
fancy, what of it ? The English, French, Russian and Belgian 
horses are different, and allowed to thus differentiate xmchal- 
lenged. Why may not America have her own type, and why 
slavishly try to pattern ourselves upon others in any way? 
The American trotting-bred heavy-harness horse is recognised 
already throughout the world as the best, fastest, gamest, 
handsomest beast of his kind in existence. Let us restrict 
otir efforts to further gilding the refined gold we already have. 



2S9 



CHAPTER XXVII 

DRIVING-TOURS 

We know our Fifth Avenue, our Piccadilly or Bois de 
Boulogne very well — if not personally, at least by reputation ; 
California, Florida and Maine are visited as casually as one 
would pay a dinner call, but the intermediate points, known 
to us only from the fleeting glance obtained as our parlour 
car whirls along, are for the most part unexplored regions, 
and generally destined so to remain so far as we are concerned. 
Chance may occasionally point out to us some locality 
which we favour with our patronage, and to which we make 
infrequent pilgrimages, obtaining by degrees through casual 
meanderings a fairly close acquaintanceship with its environ- 
ment; and to it we adhere like the limpet to its rock, at least 
for a time, and if we later find it indorsed by the world of 
fashion, our sentiment becomes for it even more intense, 
and one regards oneself as a modem Columbus who has 
discovered a strange land pronounced by others who test 
it to assay Ai. Far too many of the country's shekels are 
diverted to foreign pockets by the craze for travel abroad, 
and one can put one's surplus American dollars to no better 
use, so far as wholesome pleasure goes, than in investigating 
at close range the multitudinous attractions of his native 
country, inland and outland. Thoroughly to delight in and 
enjoy such an outing, one must love company, and find the 
zest of his meanderings enhanced by the interest and enthusi- 
asm of one or more friends or relatives who by their reflected 
pleasure so hugely add to one's own satisfaction — by this 



DRIVING 

sympathy so greatly lessen the consequences of the various 
mishaps which travel by highway and byway may possibly 
entail. Be careful in your choice of associates, therefore, if 
you would travel joyously, or sooner or later friction will 
arise and the outing degenerate into a miserable scramble 
to " get through with it" quite foreign to the ideas with which 
you embarked upon the jaunt. The enduring harmony of a 
large party is in inverse ratio to its size. Two are a fairly 
large crowd at times, and even one's wife must be thoroughly 
en rapport with the undertaking, if the family only is included, 
to render the trip likely to result satisfactorily. 

To successfully and minutely explore a country in early 
days the assistance of four-footed animals was found abso- 
lutely necessary : nor is it likely that two wheels or four were 
ever found competent to the task. In latter-day journeying 
by road the same truth holds, and forthwith the bicycle and 
automobile are put out of count and dependence must be 
placed upon the horse. The pedestrian, singly or in groups, 
and possessed of good health, physical ability and elastic 
youth, finds his reward in wholesome exercise and in the 
economy of his usually solitary journeying; the bicyclist, 
a labouring part of his machine, is handicapped by inability 
to transport with him more than the barest requirements 
for ordinary decency, and he also must be hale and hearty. 
The motorist must be ever near his base of supplies for 
hardware and noisome fuel needful to maintain headway 
on his "devil wagon," and to him only the beaten paths 
are open; nor, were it otherwise, coiild he stay his flight long 
enough to do more than oil a bearing or repair a smash. 
His stenchful contraption is also wholly out of place beside 
the sylvan stream or in the darkling dell — and perhaps his 
sense of propriety and of the incongruous forces this knowl- 



I 



DRIVING -TOURS 

edge upon him. The horse, therefore, is the thing, and by 
his kindly help the aged and infirm, as well as the young 
and agile, may, as through no other agency, their youth 
renew by the means of driving tours, refresh their hearts and 
expand their minds in lingering travel along all sorts of 
unconsidered roads, "beginning no whither and leading no 
whence" through many delightful days which shall serve 
as an oasis in the mind forevermore. 

We have good roads nearly everywhere nowadays — 
and for this many thanks — not, alas ! to the horse-owners 
of the community, but to those determined bicycle chaps 
who would not be denied, but stirred up council and legis- 
lature until they obtained what they wanted in the way of 
at least fairly decent means of intercity communication. 
Morasses in winter, ash heaps in summer, our cotmtry 
roads, only a few years back, were as a rule horrible; to-day 
they are more than "pretty good," and steadily getting 
better. For another boon must we thank these " Ixions of 
the wheel, " and that is for the provision of decent rest-houses 
and country hotels which their patronage brought into 
being and maintained, and where one may find an intelligent 
effort made to render the traveller's sojourn comfortable. 

In embarking upon a driving tour it has always seemed 
a crying shame to have any definite plan as to direction or 
duration, and the questions, " Where are you going ? " " When 
will you be back ? " not only impertinent but in the nature of 
an insult from those who did not and could not know that 
upon the very vagueness of these particulars depended one 
of the chiefest pleasures of the undertaking. Any prosaic 
workaday person can answer such questions from the depths 
of his humdriim throat, but we who go a-yachting by land 
have neither leisure nor inclination for the satisfaction of 

263 



DRIVING 

such hopelessly vulgar curiosity — and therefore the Icy Eye 
of Intolerance freezes our interlocutor as we sally leisurely 
forth, as irresponsible as a summer breeze, as care-free as 
bits of thistledown. Where are we going? " Bless you, it all 
depends" — upon what lane looks attractive; upon whether 
those hills seem worth exploring; upon whether, when 
half-way to the mountains, the sea does not set up in our 
ears and hearts its siren call, and, abandoning all provisional 
itinerary, we hasten to it. When are we coming back ? " Oh, 
any old time!" — to-night, if we quarrel; next week, if it 
rains; two weeks, if we feel like it; four weeks, if the money 
holds out. " To particularise is invidious, " and never more 
so than now, "when all the world is young, lad," and care- 
free we turn our faithful horses' heads forth to the homely 
pleasures, the romantic scenes, the tender associations, the 
glorious views, the joyous hours which are the prerogative 
of all those who wisely set out upon such adventiorings. 

Too large a party will necessitate the use of too many 
horses to render probable the likelihood of all the animals 
retaining their bodily condition throughout an extended 
trip. They will go lame, and shotilders and backs will chafe, 
while fickle appetites will account for the failiire of more 
than one to endure to the end ; and for this reason, and also 
because the load is excessive, expeditions with four or more 
horses in coach or brake are usually fraught with disaster. 
Two or four people, drawn by one or two animals, are likely 
to get to the end of the route, but the size of the party is best 
restricted to these limits. 

All travelling necessaries should be ciilled and reculled, 
and it is amazing how much one can do without in transit if pre- 
cautions are taken to forward trunks, etc., by express to given 
points, where linen, etc., may be replenished and refreshed. 

264 



DRIVING-TOURS 

A narrow flat trunk or large suit case or two, fitting 
under the seat or seats of the vehicle, will accommodate a 
lot of things for the small party of adventurers, and the 
runabout in the one case and the roomy democrat wagon 
in the other afford ample space for various impediments, 
and are most comfortable travelling carriages besides. Rain- 
coats and other wraps may be strapped to seat-backs, or 
placed under or upon the cushion, or, with the umbrellas and 
parasols, bound upon the dasher; while the horse clothing, 
halters, bandages, etc., done up in straps, may be fastened 
to the back of the seat or above the trunk ; and the road kit 
of wire, wire-cutter, hoof-pick, cord, grease, wrench, and 
various simdries, may be stowed away in the receptacle for 
the apron under the seat. Thus provided, our voyagers are 
prepared for any incident by field or flood, and ready for 
everything that comes. 

The vehicle, as to its tires, nuts, parts, etc., should be 
thoroughly overhauled before starting; the motive power 
freshly shod; the harness comfortable in fit, and stripped of 
everything but the essentials, with open bridles (if the 
animals permit them safely), or with widely flaring blinkers, 
that heat may not harm nor discomfort annoy. A spare 
breast-collar should always be carried, if a collar is worn, to 
use if the shoulders chafe, and the collar itself should fit 
very snugly at starting, as with toil neck and shoidders are 
sure to shrink. 

Seasoned horses m regular work should be procured, of 
steady character, close-made, active, and free from any 
habit of stumbling or hitting knees or ankles, for if these 
faults are evident when the beast is working lightly they 
will be heavily augmented when fatigue intervenes. A 
" Yorkshire boot " or two, made of felting and tied on bv a 

265 



DRIVING 

bit of cord, should be at hand, for a weary horse may begin to 
hit himself, or a raised clinch in a foot may work havoc with 
the opposite leg in a short distance. Ambitious, free-going 
horses — even hard-pullers — should be chosen, for they will 
quiet down with the hard work ; but your sluggish brute will 
make your journey a torture before you have been out many 
days, through the necessity of proceeding at a snail's pace or 
of urging him along. 

The day's drive may be split into divisions if places of 
interest are frequent or if for any reason that method seems 
best, or one may go straight through to his destination at 
one effort. The early morning and the late afternoon are 
the best times for travel, and this leaves the middle of the 
day for sightseeing. From fifteen to twenty miles may be 
covered in the early period, and from ten to fifteen in the 
later, although it should be arranged occasionally that a 
short trip of ten miles or so may constitute the day's work, 
thus giving the animals a short day. Once started, the first 
mile or so should be covered at a moderate pace, but after 
that the gait should be fairly brisk to within a mile or so of 
the journey's end. Nothing fatigues a horse more than 
dawdling aimlessly along, as they have no knowledge of ease 
and food at the end to sustain them, nor of where the halting- 
place may be. Water should be offered at every opporttmity 
along the way, and a folding canvas bucket takes up very little 
room. Do not stint them in fluid, unless it is cold spring 
water. You drink what you desire yourself, and iced at 
that, and what is there about the constitution of a horse 
that he may not have what you yourself enjoy under similar 
conditions of hard work. 

Arrived at your destination, do not fuss about your 
horses and annoy them with superfluous attentions. They 



DRIVING-TOURS 

will be cool and ready to put away if you have come the 
last mile or two as you should, and therefore be quick about 
their toilet and let them get to the board and bed for which 
you probably have a personal longing. Wash the shoulders 
and the pad place down in cold water; sponge down and 
between the hind legs to remove grit and dust and prevent 
chafing; wash legs, and bandage loosely (for drying, not for 
supporting purposes) ; straighten the hair of the coats, and 
put them away — the whole operation not taking ten minutes. 
Let them have a little hay to pick at, and a reasonable 
amount of water — half -bucket each — and in an hour water 
fully, and feed if the time for it has come. Never mind 
the complete dressing for them until ready to journey on 
afresh, then have them groomed thoroughly. See that the 
beds are dry and deep, and get them box-stalls, if you can, 
at any cost. Watch the appetite closely, and tempt them 
in every way to eat, if not their regular daily ration of hay 
and oats, then an equivalent in more succulent and " tasty " 
material of other sorts. To keep them going through a trip 
of several weeks is a good test of your natural ability as a 
horseman, and will task not only your knowledge and your 
foresight, but your sympathy and common sense. 

If a coach or brake is used matters become more compli- 
cated forthwith. Hotels that will accommodate your little 
party of from two to four will not take in a large and preten- 
tious expedition like this, with several servants, etc. Spare 
horses must go along or be sent ahead, and if a four-in-hand 
is to be driven you may as well have six animals, two of them 
drawing a light baggage-wagon turn about with others, 
which can carry much of the heavier luggage. These horses 
should be all of a size, that they may work anywhere roimd 
the team and be driven in various combinations to their 

267 



DRIVING 

personal advantage. Your vehicle should be fairly light, 
and a brake is better than a coach for this reason, and because 
it runs easier in country ruts, turns better, and in overgrown 
roads when branches swing low has no panels to scrape 
and tarnish. You will need two men at least to care for the 
horses, one with the brake and the other with the wagon, 
and they will have their work cut out at the halting-places, 
because one cannot take it as easily with four on the road as 
he can with one or two, for the reason that few fours will walk 
well together. In consequence, the animals arrive at their 
destination more or less heated, and must be thoroughly 
cooled out by walking in hand until ready to put away; 
while the four " sides " of harness and the wagon harness, 
besides the two vehicles, make a combination quite beyond 
the experience of the average village livery-stable, and need 
several hours' work under expert hands. 



368 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

ROAD-DRIVING AND APPOINTMENT 

Our native woods, and our ingenuity in designing 
competently and constructing skilfully, has afforded, to the 
latter-day American, vehicles which for strength, lightness, 
easy draft, roominess in proportion to size, and durability are 
approached nowhere on earth — a wide reputation; and of 
these the road-wagon and the speeding wagon represent the 
triumphs of the builder's art, although their fragile lines 
owe their enormous durability as much to perfection in 
metal as in wood- working ; while their ease of draft and com- 
fort of conveyance is due to the rubber tires without which 
few high-class vehicles are nowadays complete. The accepted 
innovation of low wheels has relegated the high wheel of former 
days to a position of " innocuous desuetude," but it is by no 
means certain that this condition of affairs is siire to main- 
tain ; and in fact many road-riders, while succvunbing to the 
fascination of the rubber tire, have proved loyal to the old- 
fashioned wheel, and not a few others have for genuine road 
work returned again to their patronage of that pattern. It 
cannot be denied that the low wheel has its drawbacks in 
that it has a tendency to throw the mud in showers from 
its rapidly revolving periphery, not only upon the occupants, 
but also upon the horses, when a pair is driven; and all 
will not bear this incessant pelting with equanimity. The 
low wheel, from its small circumference, is also much affected 
by uneven or rutty roads, and in consequence proves very 
uncomfortable to any one, as a lady companion who reclines 

269 



DRIVING 

against the back support and thus gets the full effect of the 
jolting and wriggling. Again, many of the low wheels are 
attached to the spindle by complicated arrangements of nuts, 
etc., and while these are properly attended to in city stables 
or in one's own establishment, the usual form of the nut and 
spindle is, while needing much more frequent attention, far 
less liable to disorder from careless or incompetent handling. 

The side-bar has been the almost universal type of 
spring used, but, especially in the cheaper grade of road- 
wagons, this has not resulted successfully for the reason that 
the cheap spring is gauged to the full capacity of the wagon 
and to nothing less, and that consequently a full-seated 
wagon rides very "stiff" with one occupant; nor is there, 
even with two, that easy and delightful pliancy characteristic 
of the end-spring and the full elliptic. 

Wagon and buggy makers have generally erred in that 
they construct their vehicles with reference only to the man 
of middle or ordinary height, making them most uncom- 
fortable and cramping for a tall person. If they would 
build the bodies a little longer, and so arrange the foot-rest 
that it could be changed to two or three different lengths, 
they would accommodate all sizes of occupants; nor would 
this arrangement alter materially the shape of the vehicle 
or add to its cost, as the extra length could be obtained by 
a trifling lengthening of the body, raising of the seat and 
thickening of the cushion. As it is to-day, your tall man 
of six feet or more must, to be perfectly at ease, order a 
specially made wagon, which he has for that reason difficulty, 
very probably, in selling. 

It has become the fashion at many horse shows to award 
ribbons to roadsters harnessed to "speeding wagons," and 
to accept them as "road- wagons," than which nothing can 




ROAD-WAGUN; LOW WHEELS 




UNIi-MA-\ KUAD -WAOUX, LuW WHEELS 



ROAD-DRIVING AND APPOINTMENT 

be further from either propriety or common sense. A road- 
wagon must be such in all respects — ready for long trips or 
drives; light enough for ordinary speeding; roomy enough 
for its occupant and his traps; and strong enough to endure 
unharmed the vicissitudes of travel not only over speedways 
and park roads, but over such highways as the ordinary 
country road-master provides. If it is not able and ample 
for such tasks it is no " road "-wagon, call it what you will, 
and one would hardly care to drive at a road gait a " speed 
wagon " twenty or thirty miles even if he could by so doing 
acquire it for his own. 

Lightness has reached its useful limit in these vehicles, 
and no end can be served by making them lighter, nor, indeed, 
so light. Fragility and the danger-line are two points that 
constantly approach, and as some of us weigh 250 pounds or 
more, these absurdly light vehicles are not only dangerous, 
but not in keeping or in good taste, and therefore in the 
matter of correct appointment to be carefully supplanted. 

Nothing is gained by this excessive fragility save that 
some dealer can say that he has built one of some such 
foolish avoirdupois as forty pounds or so which has proved 
usable, ignoring the fact that not only will a horse pull a 
wagon of greater bulk as fast, but even faster. Again, these 
extremely light wagons are very difficult of repair and easily 
racked to pieces or broken down by too sharp a turn. 

Another argument against the very light wagon is that 
a horse at speed is apt to take too hard a hold of one, especially 
if fresh or badly balanced, and as the weight must then come 
on the front axle, a very slight swerve will suffice to turn 
you over unless you have your feet against the axle outside 
the body, which is both awkward and hardly allowable — 
certainly not agreeable. 



DRIVING 

Given weight in moderation, your rough-gaited horse 
at once goes smoother; your knee-banger, elbow-hitter, 
and quarter-grabber begins to clear his boots, and may soon 
go without them; your hard-puller finds something else to 
lean against but your arms, while the smooth-going animal 
continues to show that characteristic as well in the loo-pound 
wagon as he did in the sixty-pound. Draft is so perfect, 
friction so slight, and roads so excellent nowadays that 
nothing is to be gained by abnormal lightness. 

The appointments appropriate for a " road rig " (so 
called) have been carried to more ridiculous lengths, and have 
promoted more acrimonious discussion and more hard feeling 
than those for any other variety of equipage. Singtdarly 
enough, this bickering was never over the real essentials, but 
over the absolutely immaterial accompaniments with which 
a driver saw fit to cvmiber himself and which should be matters 
dependent only upon his own needs or opinions; which 
counted in judging only some small fraction like lo per cent., 
and figured in actual use at many per cent, less than nothing, 
so far as genuine importance went. 

Absurd provisions were and are the rule, and the 
elaborate " kits " contain all sorts of useless things, most 
expensively made, and shamefacedly produced as if the owner 
were willing to apologise for being so silly as to invest in them. 
Wheel jacks (for an eighty-pound wagon), halters, shoes, 
nails, flask, etc., lugged about in a wagon which is 
never ten blocks from some stable or blacksmith shop, savours 
of the inane; while in one year the robe must have a mono- 
gram on its middle and in another year none; alpine hats 
and box-cloth coats being apparently de rigueur regardless of 
weather conditions, yet rain-coats constituted no part of the 
essentials, nor did tie-ropes ! 



ROAD-DRIVING AND APPOINTMENT 

Everything about such an equipage should be quiet and 
in keeping, the harness fitting accurately, the horse good- 
looking and well groomed. Dark-coloured, of course, as to 
the body, the shafts, pole and undercarriage or " running- 
gear " of the wagon may be lightly striped or painted in other 
colotirs, as red, green or yellow picked out with black, a 
monogram or initial being placed upon the seat-riser. The 
top, if worn, should be "fioll-up" or down; the side curtains 
and apron iinder the seat. The necessaries — cooler, tie-rope, 
foot-pick, scraper, lamp, rain-coat — should be neatly arranged, 
and the lap-robe, according to season, either in use or folded 
and hung over the back of the seat. 

The harness should be very light, black, single strap, have 
horseshoe buckles, rubber, gilt-lined or brass motmts, 
single keepers, square blinkers, overdraw fiat check 
or part round side check (loops on crown-pieces and 
not on throat-latch), or no check as preferred; breast- 
collar, with martingale loop; traces fiat or (sometimes) 
round; saddle, with small housing (generally); breeching; 
crupper (without buckles) ; flat, or part round russet 
reins, leather-covered buckles. Monogram or initials neatest 
on blinkers only, although sometimes placed on breast- 
collar, on pad flaps, and on hip straps; brow-band may 
be plain or fancy leather. For pairs the same general ruling 
holds good, and either shaped patent-leather collars and hames 
(inside ferrets on straps) or breast-collars are used; no loin- 
straps; housings, or none, as preferred; checks, etc., as in 
single work. The whip should be plain and elegant; straight, 
of course; the lap-robes plain and neat; the carpet dark- 
coloured and harmonising with the wagon trim. 

A road horse should of all things be a good, prompt 
walker and a free, straight driver ; lacking in these essentials, 



DRIVING 

he is no roadster, even though he be as beautiful as a dream 
and as speedy as the fastest. Nothing is more irritating 
than a plodding, lumbering walker ; no horse is more regularly- 
overdriven. He should carry a good, natural head and front ; 
be lively and active, yet " biddable " ; back freely and stand 
well; be absolutely fearless of all objects, road along cheerfully 
at the pace required without needing unusual restraint or 
urging ; and possess a nicely pliant mouth which would enable 
his driver to cut a perfect " figure of eight " while holding the 
reins in one hand as usually held by a road-driver — i. ^..through 
the full hand, the off rein over the first finger, the nigh rein 
coming through from outside the little finger. This position 
of the reins, with attendant play of the forearm and wrist, is 
best adopted by any one who would perform this feat, 
even when driving four horses. 

A roadster must also be level-headed in company, and 
stick to his gait at speed without unduly pulling; must be 
"brushy" — i. e., get to his speed quickly, and must drive 
straight and "break" straight — i. e., must not plimge side- 
ways when he "tips over," as many horses do, and which is 
an extremely dangerous failing in a roadster, calculated to 
cause not only a collision, but even to turn yoiir wagon over 
if you chance to take a sharp hold of him at the same moment. 
Too tall a horse is not desirable as being out of keeping, and 
also probably too long-gaited for safety at speed. About 
15.2 is the proper limit, and from that down to fifteen hands 
will be found generally best liked. 

Of all the difficulties attendant upon buying horses, there is 
nothing to touch the trouble and the skill required to perfectly 
mate a pair of road horses, and the prizes offered by horse 
shows for such classes have always seemed absurdly dispro- 
portionate to the time, money, and knowledge required 

274 



ROAD-DRIVING AND APPOINTMENT 

to successfully compete. Heads, necks, bodies, tails, colotor, 
dispositions, action, mouths, manners; speed at walk, jog, 
full flight identical, and instantly and obediently inter- 
changeable; ambition to help and yet not to try to beat 
each other. It is doubtful if one comes upon a pair perfect in 
all these respects twice in a lifetime, and if he does they are 
usually the property of another, and vmattainable because 
the owner realises what a treasure he has. 

The heavy-harness horse is easy to mate, as his adjustable 
bitting makes very differing dispositions identical; docking 
makes similarity possible among even the originally dis- 
similar; harmony at the park trot is good enough, and cross- 
matched pairs acceptable; but the road-rider must seek and 
seek again until he finds two that fill the bill as described 
above; and yet all such pairs must be amenable to easy 
control with snaffle bits, and, in them, always mutually 
supporting and assisting and never hampering each other at 
every pace and in any situation. 

The least objectionable feature of dissimilarity in such 
a pair is that of height, as the discrepancy is generally only 
noticeable when standing, for the reason that they are not as 
closely coupled as heavy-harness horses. The next is that 
of gait, whether long or short, since so long as they both 
stride alike at speed the difference at the other paces is not 
material. The next is colour, although shadings of the same 
colotu" are not objected to. The essentials are mouths, 
manners, courage and cleverness, and without these they 
are no pair and practically worthless for the purpose, just as 
really as is any other horse, such acquirements being 
actually at least 75 per cent, of any animal's value, instead 
of the low value, as "also to be considered," which the 
horse-show prize-list usually imposes. 

27s 



DRIVING 

The matter of boots and booting is passed over because 
a gentleman's bona-fide road horse neither needs any 
nor is allowed to wear them save when, in actual action, 
the shin-, ankle- and quarter-boots of safety are applied. 
American ingenuity is as unrivalled in the contriving of 
all these articles as it has been in the evolution of the 
road- wagon; but it may well be questioned whether, by 
thus rendering profitable and possible the development 
of thousands of malformed, rough-gaited, crooked, star- 
gazing, flat-sided brutes, and by subsequently using them 
liberally for breeding purposes because, thus protected, 
strapped-up and buckled-down, they could scramble a mile 
faster than others possibly in every way their superiors, 
we have not dealt the American trotter a body blow from 
which we are yet to reap punishment in his deterioration 
as a perfect animal; and the difficulty of obtaining any 
sort of high-class roadsters to-day offers strong testimony 
to that effect. 



276 



CHAPTER XXIX 

MATINEE RACING AND ROAD-DRIVING 

The amateur driving-club of the present day is an 
institution of such recent development that it is little 
understood by the majority of our people. The trotter, 
than which we have nothing more truly American, has never 
been thoroughly appreciated, and the versatility of this 
wonderfully adaptable horse is just beginning to be under- 
stood. Amateur driving, from the time of our forefathers 
tmtil recent years, has always meant road-driving, and few 
men have ever attempted to secure enjoyment from their 
trotters by active participation in track contests or races. 
Up to within a few years there have been no organisations 
that could properly be called amateur driving-clubs, and 
since the formation of these clubs they have, perhaps naturally, 
been confounded with race-track organisations. This is due 
to the fact that the names "Gentlemen's Driving Club," 
"The Riding and Driving Club" and the like have for years 
meant associations formed for giving horse-races for profit, 
and most of the amateur clubs have adopted the name 
"Gentlemen's Driving Club." The two are not at all analo- 
gous except that at both meetings horses are used in racing 
over a prepared track. In one case the racing is conducted 
for profit, while in the other it is purely a sport. So-called 
"matinee racing," meaning racing where no money was 
at stake, has been in favour at various places for many 
years, but none of these reunions were managed by properly 
chartered amateur driving-clubs, and few, if any, had any 



DRIVING 

organisation whatever. The first genuine amateur driving- 
club was started at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1895. That city had 
always been a place in which much interest was taken in the 
light-harness horse, and with the inroad of trolley lines and 
other adjuncts to a large city, which did away with environ- 
ments suitable for pleasure driving, those interested naturally 
turned to the race-course as a place to enjoy a fast horse. 
Fortunately, the club was started in the right way, by the 
right kind of people, and to this fact can be attributed its 
remarkable success and its growth and increased importance 
each year. It was originated by a niomber of the best men 
in the city, all horse-lovers. They all took an active personal 
interest, and there being no lack of applications for mem- 
bership, and being careful who was admitted, the tone of 
the organisation was kept at a high standard and its spirit 
of the right kind. Since the incorporation of this club 
others have been promoted, untU to-day nearly every large 
city has one of like character; while innumerable smaller 
places have their "matinee" clubs as nearly similar as the 
local conditions permit. What this interest has grown to 
be is hardly yet tmderstood, and what it may become in 
the futvu-e is hardly conceivable. 

It may be fairly said that everybody admires a horse, and 
few, indeed, there are that do not love a fast horse. All kinds 
are interesting, but none offer an opportunity for such 
infatuation as that horse which the owner himself can drive and 
race in thrilling contest with friend and neighbour. The 
day of the trot ting-horse has come and the " matinee club" 
is responsible for it. As an explanation of what these clubs 
are and may be, it would be proper to describe the Gentle- 
men's Driving Club of Cleveland. Composed of about 150 
of the most prominent business men of the city, perhaps 

278 



MATINEE RACING AND ROAD-DRIVING 

fifty of them are what might be termed active members — 
that is, members who drive at the " matinees." A " matinee," 
to which the pubHc is invited, is held every Saturday afternoon 
through the summer, A regular programme is furnished, 
and music also. None but members and members' horses, 
however, are permitted to take part. Everything is done to 
rule, regular judges and timers being appointed. The 
horses are classed by a committee, not by their records, but 
by their known ability, which insures all having a chance to 
win, and also assures close contests. The racing is all done 
to road- wagons, and an afternoon's fun consists of from eight 
to ten events with from two to eight starters in each. The 
average attendance is fully 2,000, and of these it is fair to 
say two-thirds are women. It is not a rare thing on special 
days to have the attendance run up to 6,000 or 7,000. There 
is no money at stake in any way at these matinees, and the 
club is supported entirely by dues from its members. They 
race for honour and ribbons alone, with sometimes a cup. 

In 1899 the club at Boston, in order to stimulate this 
kind of sport, offered a $1,000 cup called the Amateur Drivers' 
Challenge Trophy, which was to be trotted for each year, and 
was open for competition to any member of any recognised 
driving-club, providing, of course, he was an amateur. This 
intercity racing brought to light the fact that organisation 
was necessary, and it resulted in the formation of the League 
of Amateur Driving Clubs, whose membership is at present 
composed of the very lively and healthy clubs of Boston, 
New York, Syracuse, Pittsburg, Columbus, Chicago, Memphis, 
Buffalo and Cleveland. The League formulated rules govern- 
ing intercity racing, and was directly responsible for legislation 
on behalf of the amateurs by the National and American 
Trotting Associations, whereby amateurs are permitted to 



DRIVING 

race their horses at open matinees without incurring the 
penalty of bar or record. 

The interest in amateur racing to wagon developed so 
quickly that a number of the trotting associations began 
offering inducements in way of cups to the amateiirs to com- 
pete at their meetings. Charter Oak Park, Hartford, was 
the pioneer in this, and the New York State Fair Association 
has for several years given much attention to the amateur 
end of the sport of trotting. A number of other associations 
have taken it up, and to-day there are many opporttmities 
offered the amateur to compete with his trotters at public 
meetings for plate or other trophies. 

Prediction was rife at the starting of the Cleveland Club 
that it would be short-lived. It was not thought that men 
would long race their horses for fim and accept frequent defeat 
without internal dissensions arising that would disrupt the 
organisation. Happily this has not been the case, and it is 
indeed remarkable how little friction has occurred. Experi- 
ence has taught that the success of this sport lies in the 
character of the members composing a club. They must be 
gentlemen in all that the name implies; they must be good 
sportsmen, willing to concede defeat and at least simulate 
cheerfulness over it, as well as to accept victory with becoming 
modesty. Their meetings must be conducted to rule, and 
kept clean and free from all that leans toward rowdyism, and 
so pleasant that the nicest women can attend and not 
encounter anything which might shock their sensibilities. 
It is true that when any sport is taken up or patronised by 
good women it at once becomes an assured success. There 
shotild be no partiality shown to any member or to any horse ; 
of all things, avoid the forming of cliques. All should be 
made to feel that their interests are being fairly cared for. 

280 



MATINEE RACING AND ROAD-DRIVING 

The race committee should, in making up their programme 
each week, class the horses as near together as possible in 
respect to their speed. No attention need be paid to a horse's 
record, but if he proves to be in too fast a class, or vice versa, 
drop him down or move him up the next matinee so that in 
the end all may have had as fair a chance as possible. 

To the individual member it is perhaps not necessary 
to say, at all times control your temper, and carefully 
guard your tongue, that you do not say something you 
may be sorry for afterward. No sport admits of so 
much difference of opinion or opportunity for wrong 
judgment as this; it produces excitement perhaps more 
continuously than any other, and, realising this, one is 
wise to keep oneself well in hand. A man who will not or 
cannot control himself has no business to drive or attempt to 
direct the movements of so intelligent an animal as a horse. 
It is human nature for a man to love his horse, often with an 
affection of the kind bestowed upon his family; he resents a 
criticism of his favourite, and the sting of defeat is bitter. 
It takes good men, broad men, kind men, or, to sum it up, 
good sportsmen, to meet these conditions; but the education 
so received is, if taken properly, invaluable. Of all things, 
don't forget always to drive fairly. The day of trickery and 
sharp practices, bom of contests on open roads, where no rule 
applies, has passed, and nothing is more reprehensible than 
these cheap ways of taking advantage of a contestant. On 
the track and in these matinee events one must drive to rule; 
so avoid fouls and drive fair. The rules make no distinction 
between a foul drive made imintentionally as against the 
deliberate foul, and aside from the meanness of it there is the 
danger offered to all. Cutting off, carrying out, a misuse of 
the whip, jockeying at the score, and general abuse of the 



DRIVING 

sport should not only be severely frowned down, but punished 
also, for no true sportsman under standingly stoops to such 
misconduct. Much better to be known as a good fellow and 
fair driver than as the most skilful. Don't be nervous over 
an anticipated race ; the danger is at a minimum. We do 
things every day of our lives much more dangerous with- 
out hesitation; of the millions who have driven in amateur 
racing, no man was ever yet killed ; so pass by at once the 
thought of danger: there is really none. 

The anticipation of contest tends to excite the nerves, 
but with practice of a little self-control this will pass away. 
Remember at the beginning that not only is your pleasure at 
stake and the pleasure of your fellow members, but there are 
perhaps a few thousand spectators whose afternoon's enjoy- 
ment you should consider. Be alert and prompt; get your 
horse ready and out on time; keep your eye on the judges; 
report to them at once any hitch in your affairs; be ready 
at the score ; do the best you can to secure a fair start ; drive 
a fair heat, and if defeat be your portion, smile and try at 
least to be happy in the cheering thought that other days are 
coming and that the full cup of joyousness will one day be 
held to your lips. 

To attempt to advise what kind of a horse one wants 
for matinee racing would be almost as difficult as to say how 
that horse shovild be rigged or driven. People differ as much 
as horses, and what suits one is far from pleasing to another. 
A beginner, however, should never purchase a sluggish 
horse; no more should he select a highly nervous one inclined 
to break. Of the two, the sluggish horse is the most difficult 
to get results from, and it takes an expert to get his best. 
The beginner, in his overzealousness and lack of experience, 
does too much driving, and ere long the horse has lost confi- 




AX 1 \>\ WIN 




A CLOSE FINISH 



MATINEE RACING AND ROAD-DRIVING 

dence, and, if driven at top speed, will break. A horse that 
" drives himself," as they say, is the best — that is, one that is 
free without being rank ; one that you can feel is giving you 
his best efforts always. Then there is but to sit still and 
guide him. He must of all things be inclined to stick to his 
gait, and if he has these qualities it matters not so much if 
he be handsome or well bred. Matinee racing is not so severe 
on horses as regular racing. The scoring is at a minimum, 
the fields small, and the races short, from which fact horses 
often worthless for racing purposes make quite successful 
matinee horses. They may not be quite sound enough for regu- 
lar racing — delicate feeders, and even bad actors; but with 
the short racing, small fields and consequent lack of scoring 
they often make well-behaved matinee performers. A ptiller 
is always to be abhorred; a horse that goes sideways when 
he breaks is too dangerous an animal to be used, and a horse 
that wears hopples shoiild never be permitted on a track; 
he is a menace not only to his own and his driver's life, but to 
every man and horse that starts with him. For size, to pull 
a wagon with a driver of average weight, a horse from 15.2 
to 15.3 is the ideal. If the horse is rapid-gaited, or "pony- 
gaited," as they say, it is a good thing; high hock action is 
not objectionable; but a horse " duck-gaited " behind — one 
whose hind legs are always apparently behindtime, is not 
desirable: he would not be a good weight-puller, would be 
slow to start, and very apt to hit the wagon unless hitched 
abnormally far from it. One that trots with his legs under 
him, with round free straight action, is the one best adapted 
to pull weight, to start quick, and to trot with fewest boots. 
The fewer boots a horse needs the better, of course, but while 
it is best not to put them on if not needed, never hesitate to 
do so when they are. The ideal matinee horse, or, as he is 

283 



DRIVING 

sometimes called, "fun horse," is the one that has good 
manners, is kind and tractable, and has the least possible 
inclination to change his gait, but that sticks to his trot or 
pace — still one that can, should he happen to make a mistake, 
rectify it easily. He must have a fine mouth, must not puU, 
and must carry his head straight; must be quick to get 
under way; not nervous at the score; must be "brushy," 
and yet have enough stamina to last out at least three heats 
at his limit for a mile. He must require few boots and no 
fancy rigging, and he should be a horse that requires little work 
to keep him on edge. Horses differ greatly in this. Some 
need a great deal of fast work and require a number of heats 
in warming-up or preparatory work before they are able to 
do their best. Usually such a horse is apt to be unsteady if 
hurried before he is thoroughly warmed up. A horse that 
carries his head to one side (and it is a very common fault) 
ninety-nine times in a hundred will carry his hindquarters 
to the opposite side; this makes him go short with the hind 
leg that is carried in, and he becomes " f oul-gaited, " necessi- 
tating a gaiting-pole, side-strap, neck-pole, or some other 
contraption. There are many reasons for this most annoying 
fault. To begin with, in trotting the turns, especially of a 
half-mile track, the horse learns to lean in toward the pole, 
and very likely acquires the habit of carrying his head out, 
as the driver is compelled to continuously pull him that way 
in order to keep him off the fence. If his teeth hurt him 
or his mouth or jaw is sore he will carry his head sideways, 
pulling most on the bit on the side that hurts. If he is 
sore, or lame in back, hip, or hind leg, he will favour this leg 
by shortening his action ; if sore or lame in foreleg, shoulder, 
or foot, he will carry the opposite hind leg under him in order 
to relieve the concussion on the tender side in front. This 

2S4 



MATINEE RACING AND ROAD-DRIVING 

often occurs with a horse that apparently jogs sound; but, 
when put to speed, the weak spot is made manifest, not by 
nodding, which usually indicates lameness forward, but by 
carrying one hind foot under the body, going short with it, 
and in this way taking much of the weight and jar from the 
one that hurts. On general principles, don't look with 
favour on a horse that hits his elbows when at speed; the 
elbow boot is the meanest one of all mean boots to adjust 
and wear, and they are continually breaking and coming 
loose. The least objectionable boot is the shin-boot, either 
forward or behind. A horse that hits his knees and arms 
hard should be looked upon with suspicion, as very few of 
them can be used to any advantage, and the more tired they 
are the harder they hit, generally with disastrous results. 

The training, balancing, booting and rigging of a trot- 
ter is essentially work for a professional, and yet if the 
amateur would study and take an active interest in this 
science as well as in the driving he will not only be much 
more successful but will find far greater amusement in his 
sport. Those who have never paid attention to this side of the 
harness-horse industry have no conception of the vast amount 
to be learned and of the skill and intelligent thought that 
can be applied, nor appreciate the real pleasure afforded 
when one overcomes some fault, weakness, trick or vice, 
and makes a good horse out of a bad one. It is certainly an 
art, and one that can never be entirely mastered. To attempt 
to enumerate the things that may be done to help balance a 
horse would be impossible. A large book could be written 
on the single subject of shoeing and balancing the foot and 
action. Perhaps one of the most important things is to have 
the horse's mouth and head properly rigged. Much may be 
done in controlling the action by raising and lowering the head 

285 



DRIVING 

and in rigging the bits and headgear so the horse may work 
straight. Many horses have the mean habit of putting their 
tongues over the bits, which, if not stopped, usually causes 
much trouble. It is a fault easily remedied, the usual method 
being to tie the tongue with strap or tape around the lower 
jaw. A simple and effective way is to use an ordinary rubber 
band about half an inch wide; this being hung on the bar of 
the bit, a few twists are taken in it and the tongue is then 
pulled through it. Care should be taken that it is not twisted 
tight enough to impede circulation, and yet it must be so 
tight that the tongue cannot be drawn out of it. This gives 
the horse free use of his tongue, but he cannot draw it back 
far enough to put it over the bits. Some horses draw their 
tongues so far back in their throats that they choke; resort 
must then be had to tying the tongue to the lower jaw. 
It is wise to change bits and head-rigging once in a while, 
as in this way the horse is less apt to acquire some 
bad habit. 

The art of shoeing a trotter is one that nobody can thor- 
oughly master, and if one loves an abstruse problem let him 
start on this and he will never lack material for thought 
and argument. The only danger to be avoided is that of 
becoming a crank, and no subject connected with horses 
breeds more. Certain laws and rules there are among the 
fraternity, but they are all subject to radical change. Weight 
and its distribution, angle of foot, length of toe, height of 
heels, pattern of shoe and its application, offer more oppor- 
tunity for intelligent thought and experiment than anything 
connected with the horse. 

As in training and handling, so in rigging and hitching, 
no fixed rule can be successfully followed. Horses, like indi- 
viduals, differ so materially in disposition, gait, conformation 



MATINEE RACING AND ROAD-DRIVING 

and constitution, that what is just right for one is all wrong 
for another. 

In harnessing to speed-wagon there are one or two points 
well to remember. First, don't fail to have your shaft-tugs 
well elevated. If the line of the top of the shafts is half-way 
between the point of shoulder and top of withers they are 
not too high. This is not the orthodox fashion of harnessing, 
but in this case you are preparing your horse for speeding, and 
the shoulder action of the horse, if the shafts are low, gives a 
side-swinging motion to the shafts that will make the wagon 
swerve as the horse extends himself. Have him far enough 
away to insure his not hitting the axle, but as near as 
can be without this danger. In a wagon, for some reason, 
the breeching is apt to work up under the horse's tail, and 
this, with a nervous horse, is dangerous. It can be tied 
back to the cross-bar, or one can use a thimble-strap running 
from the shaft-tips around back of the saddle. If these are 
used, don't get them too tight, as they will take all the pvill, 
which may result in breaking your backstrap. 

Perhaps, all things considered, where feasible, the use 
of a harness of the "two-minute" pattern is advisable. This 
harness does away with breast-collar and traces, as well as 
with hip-strap and breeching. A pair of thimbles are used 
that are slipped over the tips of the shafts; from these a 
pair of straps with buckle attachment run back to the 
saddle, fastening in different ways ; and from the same fasten- 
ing two straps run back to the whiffletree. It can readily 
be seen that these straps take care of the pull both ways. 
This arrangement has its objectionable features, and some 
horses do not seem to take kindly to it. It can obviously 
only be used on very light draught vehicles, and is only 
intended for track work. Its unsightliness should bar it 

287 



DRIVING 

from the road, as a horse looks to be only half harnessed when 
so rigged. Its greatest objection is found in using it on a 
horse that pulls. The entire strain coming on the saddle 
causes sore back, sore muscles where the saddle pinches, 
and sometimes soreness over the loin, causing the horse to go 
rough-gaited. With a kind, true-going horse for track 
work the simplicity of this manner of harnessing recommends 
it, particularly as it eliminates the danger attending the 
breeching's working up under the horse's tail. Few horses 
perform well in any check other than the overcheck, and 
obviously so when one stops to consider the fact that 
practically every harness horse is broken with this check. It 
is easier to control a horse with it, which has probably caused 
its universal acceptance, and yet there are very many horses 
that would perform better with the side check were they 
once broken to it. A light-mouthed horse or one that likes 
his head free should do better in a side check when once used 
to it, and it certainly looks better, as a horse has not the 
straight gooseneck and strained position of the head as 
with the overdraw. When the side check is used the nose- 
strap should be used with it. Many horses, perhaps the 
majority, need to have their mouths so rigged that they 
cannot open them, and resort is then had to a chin-strap or 
jaw-strap. With the mouth closed the driver has much 
more control of his horse, the bit remaining where it should 
be. Every horse should be rigged with a martingale, not 
short, but such as to prevent him from throwing his head 
up in the air when he breaks. When he does this you 
lose much of your control of him and he is apt to run side- 
ways. A horse that is bad in this way should also wear a 
halter, the strap fastening to the saddlegirth, thus prevent- 
ing his throwing his head up. On general principles, the 



MATINEE RACING AND ROAD-DRIVING 

simplest rigging you can get your horse to work kindly in 
is the best. If he is not comfortable he will not do his 
best. Extremely high checking is an abomination and 
perhaps never necessary; the object aimed at can surely be 
accomplished in some other way, perhaps by shoeing or 
weighting. 

If you drive a horse that pulls, never turn him around 
to score without first making him stop and let go of the bit. 
Then turn him quietly, and don't take hold of him until you 
have to. Unless he is a very sluggish horse, always make him 
stop and turn on a walk. Restrain him as little as possible; 
a steady pull soon deadens the mouth and the pull becomes 
stronger. Try to encourage him to drive on a light rein, and to 
let go of the bit as often as possible when going slow. A horse 
should always jog on a slack rein, unless he is sluggish and apt 
to stumble. With a sluggish horse, keep him always up on the 
bit, alive to its feel, and turn him to score in this way. If 
your horse is a little inclined to break at the start, don't hurry 
him. Keep him on a trot whatever else you do, even if the 
others do open a gap on you. A mile is a long way, and you 
have a better chance to beat your opponents coming from 
behind them, after you have your horse squared away and 
after he is settled, than if you send him to a break at the 
start. The one thing perhaps most criticised in amateur 
racing is the scoring. There always will be criticism of scoring 
just so long as horses score, and with the trotters scoring is a 
necessity. It looks simple enough to the average layman to 
bring a number of horses to the wire together and on a trot. 
With the professional it is hard enough, but with the amateur 
it is harder still, owing to lack of experience. Scoring is a 
good deal of an art, and some seem never able to master it, 
try as they may. Overanxiety is the greatest trouble, and 



DRIVING 

in their eagerness to get away well some turn and start for 
the wire with little regard for the position of others. The 
problem becomes much easier if each man watches the others 
carefully and all turn together and head for the wire, going 
slowly at first, then increasing the pace, but not faster than 
the slowest one in the party can score. A little exercising of 
thought and effort will save much time and annoyance. If 
you have a "brushy" horse, easy to get away, you can turn 
nearer the wire than the others, joining them as they come 
to you. If you have a nervous horse, apt to act badly at the 
score, take him well back, turn him alone, and start him slowly. 
You must time this, however, so that when you reach the 
others they are all in motion and headed for the wire, and so 
that you will not have to pull back in order not to get to the 
wire ahead. Only the best-behaved horses will permit them- 
selves to be taken back and started again quickly. If you 
have a " brushy " horse, one that has speed but lacks stam- 
ina, begin slowly. Let the rest do the racing, keeping within 
striking distance as your judgment directs, and save all you 
can for the finish. On the contrary, if your horse is a "rater" 
— one that goes all the way about alike — start from the word 
" Go, " and keep him at it as well as possible. Conditions 
vary so that no rule can be always correct, and here is where 
you have an opportunity to use your judgment. Above 
all things, keep your horse on a trot, study it, work at it, and 
believe that when you acquire the ability to do this successfully 
you have made of yotirself a good driver. Better by far be 
beaten again and again and know your horse has trotted 
steadily than to win once in a while and have him con- 
tinually breaking. A horse soon learns this trick and finds 
that by doing it he drops out of the race; it becomes an easy 
way for him to shirk his duty. Practise driving with a light 



MATINEE RACING AND ROAD-DRIVING 

hand; don't pull any more than you absolutely have to; 
handle the reins gently; consider all the time that the horse's 
mouth is flesh and blood ; try to think that the bit is in your 
own mouth, and handle the lines accordingly. 

An essential thing to good driving that can come only 
by experience and careful observation is rating speed. With 
the modern way of carrying the watch in the hand this 
becomes comparatively easy, but don't rely altogether on 
the watch. Try and learn to discriminate as to the rate of 
speed you are going, and as you learn it you will win many 
a heat that would otherwise be lost. 

Dash races or short races will never be popular with the 
matinee driver for the simple reason that he only has a chance 
to race a horse once a week, which means only a few starts 
during the season, and he is not getting value received. 
Nothing less than races of mile heats, two in three, will suit 
him. The mile seems to be the proper distance to race when 
a horse is in good condition, and to go longer races means a 
different course of training and consequent interference with 
the usual routine. 

Innovations, however, such as team-racing, trotter or 
pacer with running mate, and trotting or pacing to saddle, 
would materially help to make matinee racing more popular. 
For the first, team-racing, it is so exceedingly difficult to get 
two horses together that make a team that one can race that 
the attendant expense and work keep people from it. Matinee 
racing is expensive sport at best, and comparatively few can 
afford the large added expense that one incurs when he 
attempts to get horses together to race as a team. With 
two dozen horses there might be four of five teams arranged 
that looked well and worked well together at slow speed, 
but when racing is attempted the probabilities are there 



DRIVING 

wotdd not be one good team among them. A good team, 
then, means, first, careful selection, which in turn may mean 
a year's effort; then follows training together, and when this 
long task is completed one is apt to find that he has not a 
proper team after all. One can never tell by observation 
nor even by actual trial whether two horses will go well 
together, and well-mated horses outside of looks are usually 
an accident. Very often after one or two trials of two that 
seemingly go well together, one of them will suddenly change 
his manners ; he will perhaps begin to fret or pull, or go rough, 
or break without provocation. Long practice may overcome 
the trouble, but the probabilities are it is incurable. A few 
men have a natural skill in putting horses together and train- 
ing them to go in this way. Mr. Frank Work, of New York, 
is probably the greatest exponent of this we have ever known. 
It has, however, developed in him after years of patient study 
and active effort. He has not always tried to mate his horses 
in looks or dispositions, but he makes them alike after work- 
ing them. His famous team, Dick Swiveler and Edward, 
drove as one horse, and yet when he purchased them none 
would have considered they would have ever made a team. 
Belle Hamlin, Globe, Justina and Honest George were not 
at all alike, and the team Lynn Bourbon and Bertie Girl, 
that hold the world's record over a half-mile track of 
2:16 1-4, were as dissimilar in every way as it is possible 
for two horses to be. To find a horse that will trot a 
fast mile hitched with running mate is much easier. Almost 
any horse that sticks to a trot well will do, and the most 
difficult part of this is to find a runner that will run 
kindly and that is strong enough to pull the load. It is an 
exciting thing to watch and still more so to drive. If trotting 
and pacing to saddle could be revived it should be by the 



MATINEE RACING AND ROAD-DRIVING 

amateur, for a man to do it must be young and in excellent 
physical condition. It is one of the most violent exercises 
imaginable, and exhilarating in the extreme. A horse as 
well as the rider needs to be trained to do it, as it brings new 
muscles into active play. 

No law can be fixed for conditioning a horse for matinee 
racing. Some need a great deal of work, some little, all need 
slow staying-up work, and at times all shoiild be made to 
brush. Let us start in with a horse that has been roaded and 
is in what is termed ordinary road condition. We jog him 
first from two to five miles. If he is a nervous, washy 
horse, the two miles will do, but if phlegmatic he must be 
jogged longer, the idea being to get him warmed up and his 
bowels emptied. He is then driven a mile in about 3:00, 
taken in, scraped, and repeated in same time, letting him 
brush a short way at the finish, but well within himself. 
Every alternate day he will be worked in this way, gradually 
being made to step his second mile faster, until he begins to 
harden up and lose some of his flesh ; then the rest between 
work should be made longer and he should be given more 
miles when worked. We will then begin to work the horse 
twice a week, once three easy heats, following two days later 
with a longer workout, from five to seven heats, according to 
his condition. If he is a fast horse with much brush, never 
allow him to brush any fraction of a mile at top speed until 
he is thoroughly seasoned. Such a horse should be trained 
within himself all the time. If he is sluggish and without 
much speed, then he should be made to go a piece of each 
mile at his extreme limit, as in this way he will make speed. 
Never forget that you can hurt a really fast horse more in 
driving him a short distance at extreme speed than by 
driving him many fast miles that are easy for him. In one 



DRIVING 

case you injure probably permanently some muscle, joint 
or ligament, while in the other you simply tire him and he 
rests out of it. Few horses once conditioned need much 
fast work between their races. This is particularly so in case 
of matinee racing where so little is required of the horse as 
to scoring and number of heats. It is safe to say that the 
majority of horses are overtrained, and it is surprising how 
well and gamely a horse will race with little or no training. 
The danger in this, of course, is the relapse that comes after 
extreme exertion when the animal is not prepared for it. 
The greatest danger in racing a horse short in training is 
exhaustion of the respiratory organs and nervous system; 
he will rest out of tired muscles and weary legs, but an over- 
taxed heart usually means permanent injury. 

Too much care and attention cannot be given the horse 
after his work. The " cooling-out " process should be a slow 
one — i. e., a horse should be made to cool off slowly. This is 
done by clothing and walking. Remember that a dry coat 
of hair does not mean a cool horse. It is the inside of the 
animal that must be brought back to its normal condition, 
and after a severe race or work-out this will take a couple of 
hours, with the attendant use of lotions for body and legs 
and with bandaging and care of the feet. , After such work 
a horse should be fed a hot mash, sometimes with a portion 
of cooked oats in it if he needs the extra food. 

On days that the horse is not worked fast he should, if 
possible, be jogged on the road. The amount needed differs 
with the horse, but on an average after a horse has been 
trained to do his best it is not wise to jog him too much — 
perhaps five or six miles. Early in the season, when a horse 
is being prepared to train fast, the jog work should be longer. 
The idea of jogging a horse that may be said to be finished in 

294 



MATINEE RACING AND ROAD-DRIVING 

his training is not to make strength, but to keep him in con- 
dition, so all that is necessary is light exercise. On the con- 
trary, in the beginning of his training season the muscles 
and legs are to be hardened and developed, and much may 
be done by each day's work, whether it be on the track or 
road. The idea should always be to keep the horse in good 
spirits and not tired from overwork. If he is high-spirited 
and hardy he will need a little dulling down to help to make 
him steady, so the amount of slow work as well as fast that 
should be given must be fixed by the disposition, constitution 
and soundness of the horse. 

It is strange the antipathy some people have for the 
pacer, and the objection to this horse is mostly prejudice 
bom of the dislike our forefathers had for him. Pacers 
have always been cheaper than trotters, and in the old road- 
driving days it was the butcher, baker or candlestick- 
maker that was always ready with his old pacer to "take a 
fall" out of some of his richer neighbours. The pacer has 
been the poor man's horse, and this very fact recommends 
him for matinee work. We cannot all be rich, and the pacer 
offers to the man of moderate means a chance to have a fast 
horse without a great outlay of money. He is superior to 
the trotter in other ways; he needs less training, less skill in 
handling, fewer boots, and is less liable to be foul-gaited. 
He starts quicker and more easily, and drives straighter. 
The principal thing to be careful about in the purchase of a 
pacer is to learn if he has ever worn hopples. If he has, pass 
him by, for there is not one chance in a thousand that, having 
been used in them, he will ever race steadily without them. 

To conclude with, if you woiild thoroughly enjoy yotu" 
horse, take time to learn some of the arts that go to make him 
the balanced, smooth-going, delightful machine he should be. 

29s 



DRIVING 

With a light heart, a cool head and with light hands you wiU 
win your share of contests, and live to bless the day you 
became interested in the most interesting horse of all, the 
trotter. 



996 



CHAPTER XXX 

BALANCING AND SHOEING THE ROADSTER 

BALANCING and shoeing the road-horse so as to get the 
best results in the way of squareness of gait, evenness of 
poise and steadiness of stride are arts which, while demand- 
ing a certain amount of mechanical ingenuity, call no less 
imperatively for close observation, a gift for separating cause 
from effect, and a strong infusion of plain common sense 
and originality. No horse, be he ever so speedy either for 
a brush or " for the length of the road," is a gentleman's road- 
horse within the genteel definition of the phrase if he needs 
many and obvious or intrusive artificial appliances to enable 
him to show his best rate, if he must be smothered as to his 
legs in boots to prevent serious injury to them, or if he is so 
badly "hung up" naturally that he cannot be properly 
balanced by simple methods which will enable him to drive 
at speed without pulling on the reins. Horses are seen upon 
our speedways every day disfigured with all sorts of curious 
bits, poles, straps, checks, boots, toe-weights, and head, body 
or leg gear of various hideous proportions; but, as the atti- 
tudes of their drivers suggest, such brutes are not roadsters 
at all, but merely grotesque racing machines — misshapen, 
crazy-headed screws that have no possible present or future 
value at their avocation; cast-offs from the race-track which, 
despite its omnivorous qualities, could not digest them; 
a source of astonishment to foreigners, and of disgust to 
natives. 

No horse is worthy the name of roadster which does not 



DRIVING 

walk cheerfully, jog freely and rapidly, and drive at speed 
without hard pulling, after the first few strides at the start 
when the changed equilibrium is being arranged for. Most 
fast horses take a sharp hold then, but as the trainers say, 
" When you get the word, and are well into the first tiim, you 
can throw away the reins," sure indication of perfect balance, 
and that everything is just to the equine taste. 

Most road-horses are graduates from the trotting track, 
or at all events from the trotting sulky, and we are prone to 
" rig " them for work before the four-wheeled road- wagon just 
about as they were when we saw them in their races, regard- 
less of the fact that the bona fide one-man road- wagon weighs 
more and draws differently, and that even the grotesque 
" matinee " or speeding wagon not infrequently makes the 
change felt. Not a few horses will go with an easier check 
on the road, or even welcome a different form of that article, 
and find the greater resistance of the road-wagon a help 
rather than a hindrance, particularly if they have been 
inclined hitherto to be rough-gaited ; and not a few begin 
forthwith to go cleaner and to clear their boots, finally 
dispensing with some or all of them. The manner of harness- 
ing the sulky and the matinee wagon are similar, and horses 
are tightly cinched up and shafts carried high up to minimise 
shoulder motion. But the genuine road-wagon swings rather 
looser; nor does it appear that for the short dashes of the 
speedway the tincomfortable and odd-looking speed wagon 
has any compensating merits. 

Boots or no boots, and whatever wagon, etc., we fancy, 
just as no horse is a roadster that piills, so no horse pulls 
that is balanced ; nor if he requires that hard hold of his head 
to find and retain it is he in equilibrium at all. Therefore,, 
so long as this eventuates, we have not succeeded in finding 



BALANCING AND SHOEING THE ROADSTER 

the center of gravity for our charge, and only protracted 
experiment with bits, checks, shoes, etc., will discover it. 
As a general rule, the simpler and easier the bit the better 
will it suit the case, and the principal changes come about 
from raising or lowering the head, using a martingale or not 
as required, open or blind bridle, harness fitting just so, boots 
all in the right places, pliable and neatly fitted, shoes to suit 
the case; and lastly, but by no means least, no ailing feet or 
limbs, which our oaati enthusiasm may overlook, just as the 
abuse of some previous master has caused them. Teeth 
need careful attention to insure that sharp edges and points 
are not working their meed of harm by continually annoying 
and paining the horse, making him nervous, fretful, a puller 
and a one-rein lugger, sometimes to a dangerous and uncon- 
trollable extent. 

While the overdraw check does not suit all horses, 
Hiram Woodruff conferred a boon indeed upon horse-trainers 
when he turned that standing martingale upside down for 
Kemble Jackson's benefit that fine spring morning and proved 
once for all its value. It is marvellous what a difference a 
few holes either way in this arrangement will work on a horse, 
and he who first united to it the chin-strap completed a 
combination unequalled for the purpose intended. The side 
check, loop placed high on the crown-piece, suits many 
horses better, and is far more comfortable for road work ; but 
even with it a separate check-bit and a nose- or chin-strap 
should almost always be used. It makes a vast difference, 
this compulsory closing of the mouth with the tongue properly 
carried in place under the bit, and were it always applied to 
the colts in breaking, many a tongue-lolling, one-rein driver 
would never have acquired his trick. 

When we have our steed harnessed comfortably, driving 



DRIVING 

light in hand and at all paces, and suited with check and driv- 
ing bit so that he does not pull, we have yet to boot and shoe 
him properly. Of course, he must be protected when he per- 
sists in hitting himself, but as a rule he will get along 
with quarter-boots, shin-boots, and possibly scalpers. Elbow 
boots, those most annoying of all the contrivances fur- 
nished by ingenious makers, we hope his changed condition, 
possibly lowered head and greater weight to handle will 
render unnecessary; but if they must be worn, you are sure 
to lose many a brush and to go through many annoying 
experiences from their inopportune fractures. Quarter-boots 
are always a safeguard, and so are shin-boots, but the knee- 
knocker is usually as unsatisfactory as the elbow-hitter; nor 
is the average private or livery-stable groom likely to know 
how to apply all these arrangements, nor to attend to it if 
he does unless well tipped ; while the cost per annum of renew- 
ing and replenishing such an animal's paraphernalia often 
runs to considerable proportions. As between the extremely 
fast horse, freely booted as to his legs, and the fairly rapid 
but clean-gaited animal, there is, to the writer's mind, no 
comparison; for nothing is more certain than that the swift 
will be reduced to the rate of the slower if he gets enough 
(which means too much) brushing ; and that when this period 
arrives he has no advantage in any point over his more 
endtiring, because not so severely tried, confrere ; nor will his 
infirmities decrease with age. Nor is a horse which forges, 
cross-fires or scalps when jogging, however clean he goes at 
speed, fit for a roadster at all. Nor will we be able to balance 
him as lightly as if he had not this fault, since the scalpers, 
if worn, weigh something, and must be compensated for by a 
little extra metal in the fore shoes. The so-called " Memphis 
shoe," having two bars across its ground surface, is said 



I 



BALANCING AND SHOEING THE ROADSTER 

to work wonders with various double-gaited horses and those 
that need to "break over" squarely and quickly, but, what- 
ever its merits, a square-toed shoe is generally quite as 
generally useftil, and particularly for forgers and scalpers, 
the toe itself being left to project, and just rounded on the 
edge. Rough-gaited horses are also much helped by this 
style of footgear, which starts that member on the move 
from a level tread and a true "break-over," the new square 
toe being always sharply bevelled in imitation of the 
worn shoe. 

The horse of excessive knee-action is generally much 
helped by the "Memphis shoes" or by a shoe arranged to 
break over quickly from a light and long toe-calk set well 
back and reenforced by heel-calks. Not a few such have 
narrow quarters and tender low heels. Such feet will always 
give much trouble and some of the many forms of rubber or 
leather pads are generally useful; or bar shoes; or the same 
or an open shoe reenforced by an oakum-filled leather sole; 
or even strips of felting between shoe and foot, and cut away 
over the frog. Some need the weights shifted to the outside 
on the toe or the heel (rarely), or a small toe- weight, or various 
contrivances which apparently suit them and them only. 
Very light shoes will spring or twist, and should always be 
made of bar shape, that they may thus be stronger. Some 
cases of cross-firing in pacers will be helped by using, behind, 
a sharply bevelled shoe almost triangular shaped on the 
inside or two-thirds the way to the heel, and with a good 
overhang to the outside heels; the foot cross-fired on being 
bevelled as sharply, and the hoof being left to project over. 

Many horses have forefeet that grow unevenly, and 
finally cramp over badly and contract on the, inside quarters. 
An ounce of prevention is worth much in these cases, and 



1 



DRIVING 

while springs in the heels will, if the foot is well soaked before 
application and the shoe left free at the heel, help matters 
very much, it is only at the cost of much discomfort and pain 
to the neglected subject. 

Abnormally long toes in front and hind shoes, with widely 
projecting and lengthy outside heels, have obtained a vogue — 
it is to be hoped temporary only in nature — more because 
these contrivances chanced to prove valuable in the case of 
some special horse, than because they are either generally 
necessary in practice or commendable in theory. No fashion 
of handling the feet has given rise to so much infirmness and 
final unsoundness as the use of the long toe. Useful in increas- 
ing knee-action in the trotting-bred horse balanced for heavy- 
harness purposes, this pernicious custom — and the feet — 
have been carried to extraordinary lengths, regardless of 
future developments, or of the fact that the tremendous and 
unnattu-al strain on tendons and the throwing out of their 
natural relation of certain joints was siirely working injury, 
and that the horse thus thrown back upon his heels was 
practically always travelling up-hill and greatly fatiguing 
himself in consequence. The long toe behind is not so 
unmixed an evil, and is absolutely necessary to square 
away many mixed-gaited horses and on pacers of a certain 
style of going, but the roadster rarely needs such balancing 
if he is as pure-gaited naturally as a good and true-made 
animal is likely to be. Nearly all horses are safeguarded by 
bevelling the inside quarters of their shoes rather sharply, 
and calks, if worn behind, should be, as a general rule, set 
well to the inside of the web, and those of the heel made long, 
especially if the subject is close-gaited and inclined to slide 
when he sets down the hind foot at speed, these side-calks 
being reinforced by a toe-calk of similar length. 



BALANCING AND SHOEING THE ROADSTER 

The convex surface shoe, as more nearly resembhng 
the natural foot surface, gives best results on all horses, and 
its flat upper surface fits naturally upon the walls. Too 
many nails should not be used, and especially with springs 
in the heels must the quarters be free to expand under the 
presstire; and these same springs must not be too suddenly 
expanded, nor the work of expansion carried too far. 

If the sole is extremely cut away, as it too often is, 
frequent and regular stoppings must be applied to the fore- 
feet by means of any of the ordinary substances used for the 
purpose, or by a bit of wet sponge confined in the shoe by a 
piece of pliant steel. Swabs about the coronets occasionally 
applied overnight stimulate growth. Shoulder and muscle 
soreness must be carefully watched for and treated, for we 
are prone to overdrive our roadsters at times and to take 
"just one more brush" out of them, which is just the straw 
that proves too much. No balancing, etc., will work satis- 
factorily if the horse is sore or stiff and unwilling or afraid 
to extend himself. 

Apropos of the very common and intensely annoying 
habit of forging, or clicking, due attention must be paid, in 
correcting it, to the natural shape of the animal: whether 
heaviest in front or behind, high or low headed, upright or 
sloping of shoulder, disproportionately long of leg, long and 
elastic or short and "stubby" of pastern, of long sweep of 
action behind, or toeing-in there because the hocks are weak 
and slant outwardly. Such horses must nearly always be 
driven well up on the bit when jogging. If the heel is 
struck, that part should be bevelled sharp or even cut away ; 
if the inside of the web at toe inside, shift the weight to 
the heel if possible without disturbing his balance. The 
concave shoe, as being well bevelled on inside of web, is 

303 



DRIVING 

distinctly advantageous in all cases of forging, where the 
inside of the web is touched; or the same treatment of 
outside quarter will help. The breast-collar must not be 
too low, and the head must be raised by check or lowered 
by martingale until the happy medium is found; and his 
gait must be regulated evenly by the bit and by keeping 
him off the gait at which he hammers himself the worst. 
Very heavy hind shoes will sometimes work wonders, 
especially if the weight is in the toe and the toe rather long; 
extreme cases sometimes yield to a barshoe on the hind foot, 
the toe being cut off after it is fitted, the bar compen- 
sating for it. This leaves the toe clear, and two little side- 
calks will retard it. Quickening the front action by " rolling " 
the shoe well does not suit all fast horses, and the square-toed 
shoe is hardly suitable for the overreaching animal. 

Every knee-knocker can be made to go clear of boots and 
all if we can only find the secret, and the writer has had con- 
siderable success both in correcting this trouble and ordinary 
interfering by placing between the shoe and the foot on the 
inside a strip of leather beginning just beyond the swell of 
the toe and gradually widening to one inch or one inch and a 
half at the heel. This piece of leather is notched like saw- 
teeth, and acts as a reminder if the horse goes close; as a 
buffer if he actually strikes. Of course, this is not protection 
enough for a chronic offender in this respect, and such a 
one will always need boots to give him confidence — as will 
many old track -horses, who have always been protected 
at all points. 

The upright pasterns are always susceptible to the 
results of concussion; the oblique suffer chiefly from strain. 
The evils of upright pasterns, calf-knees, etc., are in some 
horses mitigated by an oblique shotdder. The latter type 



BALANCING AND SHOEING THE ROADSTER 

will demand a short foot if they are to wear well ; the former 
a rather long toe. 

Pacers, as a rule, are much more easily balanced than 
trotters, their chief faults lying in a tendency to cross-fire 
and to hit themselves, through the fact that most of them 
which display great speed have a tendency to turn out the 
toes from the ankle. Some few need special treatment, 
however, and the individual case must determine the method. 

Sleigh horses need ample protection by boots, and 
especially should the quarter-boots be high and stout, or the 
sharp calks may utterly ruin or permanently injure a horse. 
From the usual cuppy nature of the footing a good fast sleigh 
horse must be short-gaited, rapid-going, and travel with his 
feet well under him. No work is more fatiguing for a horse, 
and nowhere are the animals more usually overdriven. After 
such fast work, special attention shotild be paid the shoulders 
and tendons, or the horse will get very sore and tied up. A 
fairly heavy sleigh steadies most horses better than the very 
light ones, and nowhere is a puller so disagreeable as in a 
sleigh — and he must balance himself somehow. About thirty 
years ago a well-known Boston track-horse, Royal Mike 
by name, very fast for those days, was brought over to New 
York to take the measure of everything on Jerome Avenue, 
but to light sleighs he could not trot a little bit. Taken home, 
his disgusted owner put him to a heavy doctor's sleigh, with 
top up, one snowy day, and with a friend went out to Boston's 
famous Mile Ground to look at the sport in which he could not 
hope to share. Turning at the head of the road, Mike took 
hold of the bit and they let him step along a little at about a 
three-minute clip. Just then along came a bunch of fast 
horses, and away went Mike in the face of the high wind, and 
if ever he was a good horse it was that day and that way 

3°S 



DRIVING 

rigged, for he beat everything on the road, thus proving that 
to certain animals considerable weight is necessary as a 
steadier. 

Never as yet indorsed by the world of fashion in his 
unmutilated state, the roadster is yet destined to receive at 
the hands of the socially elect the recognition due him — 
especially from the man of means, who finds in the exciting 
contests of the speedway the healthftd excitement which 
increasing years prevent his enjoying on the polo field or in 
the wake of a pack of hounds. 



I 



306 



CHAPTER XXXI 

I ROAD-RIDERS OF EARLIER TIMES 

New York was the home of the "road-rider" fifty 
years ago, even as it is to-day. To the traveller along Seventh 
Avenue, and Jerome Avenue after crossing McComb's Dam 
Bridge, there remains now but little to suggest those bygone 
days, but even trolley-car tracks and other encroachments of 
civilisation cannot efface from the memory of the old-timers 
the recollections of scenes along those old speedways — thoughts 
which the sight of those crumbling and abandoned old road- 
houses brings vividly to mind. Jerome Avenue afforded a 
splendid speeding-ground after Seventh Avenue became 
impeded by the thronging traffic, and the establishment of 
Jerome Park in 1868 induced road-drivers to continue their 
trips above the bridge and to find at " Gabe " Case's, Judge 
Smith's, Sibbem's, and other celebrated road-houses, that com- 
fort for the inner man and refreshment for the equine which 
was so universal and so pleasant a feature of those daily 
excursions, no outing of the kind being considered complete 
unless it included stops at the various establishments for the 
purpose of sampling the various liquids and viands for which 
they were unique, and of passing the time of day with the 
various turf and road celebrities there congregated. Then, 
as now, the sport was proving highly attractive to many men 
of wealth and position, and every day one could see jogging 
up the Avenue, sitting on the road-house verandas, and later 
"brushing" home down Harlem Lane to the pavement at 
Twenty-eighth Street, or later from the bridge to the Park, 



DRIVING 

such well-known men as Commodore Vanderbilt, Frank Work, 
W. H. Vanderbilt, Robert Bonner, Edwin Thome, Josiah M. 
Fiske, William Tiarnbull, Thomas Morton, Charles Backman, 
W. C. France, S. T. Dickerson, Matthew Riley, Shepard F. 
Knapp, Phil. Dater, George L. Lorillard, Ruben S. Compton, 
George K. Sistare, Henry N. Smith, Edward A. Kilpatrick, 
James G. K. Lawrence, Harrison Durkee, A. B. Darling, S. R. 
Bowne, Pickering Clark, Harry Felter, A. N. Gillender, 
John Daniel, H. W. T. Mali, Samuel J. Morgan, G. S. Moulton, 
Wm. M. Parks, J. T. Soutter, Henry Steers, Thomas P. 
Wallace, George B. Alley, T. C. Eastman, C. D. Moss, A. A. 
Bonner, Morgan L. Mott, Samuel Weeks, Foster Dewey, 
Alec Taylor, J. H. Coster, Ed. S. Stokes, Joseph Harker, 
David S. Hammond, W. H. Humphrey, C. Vanderbilt Cross, 
Pierre Lorillard and Lawrence Kip, while the soft-dirt road, 
which is now but flinty macadam, resounded to the hurrying 
hoofbeats of such peerless trotters and roadsters as Peerless, 
Pocahontas, Dexter, Leander, Bruno, Breeze, Small Hopes, 
Red Jim, Darby, Mountain Boy, Charley Hogan, Startle, 
Aldine, Dick Swiveler, Early Rose, Maud S., Star W., Guy, 
Majolica, Garibaldi, May Queen, Cleora, Richard, Music, 
Harry Wilkes and Judge Fullerton. In earliest days the 
pacer, nowadays so popular, was hardly considered a gentle- 
man's road-horse at all, and save for the occasional butcher, 
baker or publican, whose competition with the gentlemen 
owners was not countenanced, was rarely seen — and then 
only in the form of some low-headed, drooping-quartered, 
vulgar little "Kanuck," not much above a pony in size, and 
urged to his speed by loud yells and a swaying back and forth 
of the holder of the reins, rendered necessary by his animal's 
Canadian education at the hands of some stupid " habitant." 
Riding among, and occasionally racing with, these amateurs 

30S 



I 




--■-o^u;. ti^ig:. 



■»»''-? Ti .m^:xmff^ 



ROAD-RIDERS OF EARLY TIMES 

were such well-known professionals as Hiram and Isaac 
Woodruff, "Dan" ("Peg") Pfieffer, "Bill" Whelan, J. D. 
McMann, Johnny Murphy, " Dan " and " Ben " Mace, " Billy " 
Weeks, "Charley" Green, "Jimmy" Dougrey, Dunn Walton, 
George Spicer, John Spicer, Matt Clinstock, George Woodruff, 
Peter Whelan, Frank Duffy, Frank Tolbert, James Whelpley, 
James Hammil, etc. — men who by their skill, intelligence 
and care helped to make the trotter what he is to-day. 

The Seventh Avenue of to-day is not, as many suppose, 
the "Harlem Lane" of sporting associations wherein at even 
an earlier date were decided countless brushes for fun and 
money. This was what is now St. Nicholas Avenue, and it 
ran through the upper comer of what is now the Park and into 
Third Avenue. "The Red House" was at io6th Street and 
First Avenue. This stretch was the battle-ground of all the 
fast horses of early days. 

Long before the days of Fleetwood Park the old Harlem 
race-course was in existence near 140th Street, and here, 
about 1806, it is said that Yankee trotted (probably under 
saddle) a full mile in 2 :$g — this being the first record of such 
a feat; this was, in 18 18, overshadowed by the accomplish- 
ment of "the Boston Pony," who trotted a mile in harness 
(wagon or sulky) in three minutes. The Harlem Park Course 
was opened in 1833, was managed by Hiram Woodruff's 
father, and was the scene of many impromptu races, mostly 
to saddle. It was situated about where East 140th Street 
lies now, and was a long drive out of town, as the pavement 
then ended at Twenty-eighth Street, in the Bull's Head. 
The bloods of the day made Bradshaw's road-house in 
Harlem near the Harlem course a place of meeting, and used 
to brush from there down Harlem Lane and Yorkville Hill, 
into Third Avenue (which was a continuation of the same), 



DRIVING 

and thence to the Bull's Head. The site of Central Park 
was then a wilderness. 

About 1835 road-driving first became poiDtilar, and every 
sportsman of the day, possessing the necessary means and 
the skill, maintained his one or two fast trotters behind which 
he took the air of an afternoon as far up as the celebrated 
Bradshaw's, just mentioned. Matters were entirely in the 
hands of gentlemen, and they allowed no interlopers, in the 
way of casual "sport" or publican, to interfere in their 
brushes— a matter which these gentry well understood. An 
odd pugilist or two, then at the zenith of fame, might take a 
hand, but none others except the professional trainers who 
were asked by word of mouth to participate. If others 
started the amateurs pulled up. Such men as Hamilton 
Wilkes, William McLeod, George Wilson, William Laight, 
Des Brosses Huster, Mr. Coster, James Valentine, James 
Bradhurst, Peter Barker, Mr. Neill, and a hundred more, 
behind such turf and road celebrities as Paul Pry, Awful, 
Bobus, Jerry, Blackbird, BuU-in-the- Woods, Fanny PuUen, 
Yankee Doodle, Dutchman, Beppo, Fire King, Modesty, 
Rattler, the evergreen "white-legged pony" Ripton — (the 
"gay heart of the trotting turf" and king of sleigh horses), 
and others, as well as pairs, four-in-hands, etc. 

There was trotting at Hunting Park Course, Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania, in 1828, under George Woodruff's management 
who had in training there those good campaigners, Top 
Gallant, Columbus, etc. 

In 1847 Willard Reed drove Gray Harry and Betsey 
Baker one mile tandem over Union Course in 2 143 3-4. 

About 1835 Thomas Cooper, the tragedian, acted alter- 
nate nights in Philadelphia and New York, and drove a 
celebrated horse called " Old Black" back and forth each day 



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I 



ROAD-RIDERS OF EARLY TIMES 

for weeks — an extraordinary instance of endurance and 
repeating powers. 

Even as early as 1759 the Narragansett pacer was well- 
known and was a regular article of export to the Bermudas 
and elsewhere for saddle and harness work. 

Bustling as were the old days on "The Lane" and its 
successors the two Avenues, there was at that time (about 
1840) and earlier a strong contingent who, through its greater 
accessibility from that lower portion of the city where in 
those days was located the residential section, preferred 
Long Island and its environments as the scenes of their daily 
or weekly outings. This was also true of the residents of 
Brooklyn. Trotting tracks — as those at Huntington, Babylon, 
Massapequa, Hempstead, the celebrated Union, Fashion and 
Centreville Tracks, all now built over and forgotten, were 
accessible, some after an hour's drive, some by one of longer 
duration. Over Fulton Ferry and Fulton Avenue, and out on 
the old Jamaica turnpike via East New York, one came, after 
just sufficient interval to make a "brandy smash," a "stone 
fence " or a mug of " flip " enjoyable, to the road-houses kept 
by " Bill " Whelan, " Sim " Hoagland, Jack Snedicor, and 
Hiram Woodruif, the Union Course being close by and the 
Centreville track but a mile or two beyond. These rendezvous 
were always crowded, especially in sleighing- time, and many 
wayfarers were, from sheer inability to find shed-room for 
their horses, forced to jotirney on to Remsen's or Weeks's 
places near Jamaica. Many were the impromptu races 
arranged and stmimarily brought off, and, if the road would 
not serve, the tracks were close at hand. In those days 
sleighing always lasted for months, and horses were inured 
to long trips; so that the dinners, suppers and nightly dances 
at these hostelries were always well attended; after which all 

311 



DRIVING 

hands hustled home, best pace, and Hvely were the ensuing 
scenes along the road. Many were the huge boat-sleighs drawn 
by six or more horses and loaded with merry parties; the 
smaller sleighs with four to pull them; and the comfortable 
family sleighs drawn by one or a pair; all smothered in big 
buffalo robes, and forming a picturesque scene in the brilliant 
moonlight. Heigh ho ! We dash about nowadays by steam, 
trolley and automobile ; we devour the miles as flames lick up 
the dry grass; comparative distances are but inconsequential 
— and fast as are our modes of travel, our daily lives are in 
their way as rapid, and our rate of travel but emphasises the 
hurly-biirly of all oiu- worldly affairs. Did not our ancestors 
have in many ways the best of us, and among the items may 
we not class that comparative leisure with which they con- 
ducted all their affairs, the genuine enjoyment they found in 
life, the length to which that existence extended, and the 
homely, simple pleasures which marked its red-letter days? 
Verily it would reasonably appear so. 



3" 



CHAPTER XXXII 

SLEIGHING AND SLEIGH HORSES 

Sleighing and fast trotting horses go together — in any 
country where the former amusement for extended periods is 
possible. Rapidity of locomotion is almost a sine qua non 
to the sport. As providing at the same time for celerity 
and steadiness of movement, the fast trotter finds in the 
sleigh his appropriate accompaniment ; nor can his formidable 
rival (in America, at least), the pacer, hope to cope with him 
at this tmdertaking, because the footing afforded is usually 
detrimental to the latter, and his lateral gait finds, in the snow- 
path and the average road, its most formidable obstacle- 
changing it perforce when fatigue supervenes to the diagonal 
— the trot. Apparently this did not hold true in the case of 
the wiry little Canadian pacer so common thirty or more 
years ago, but these homely little brutes were not up to a fast 
pace ; and, as the track worn in the roads always ran at the 
width of one horse's footprints, the two furrows worn by 
the shuffling feet were fairly clear, and progress in conse- 
quence not much impeded. On clear ice or over very hard 
frozen snow the pacer holds his own and sticks to his gait, 
but not over loose or moderately deep footing. Because of 
changing seasons, a shifting Gulf Stream, or other combina- 
tions, sleighing in America is not as universally enjoyable 
in northern and eastern localities as in the days of yore, 
when it was regularly customary to get out the sleighs at 
Thanksgiving and put them away about March 25th, not 
a wheel turning in the interval and the going being always of 



DRIVING 

the best. In many of these same locahties to-day sleighs are 
rarely or never seen, and seldom needed, so that those who 
would enjoy this glorious pastime are forced to seek colder 
climes, where as yet modem vagaries of climate have made 
no impression. 

The original method of making horses draw loads instead 
of carrying them was by means of some crude arrangement of 
poles or sleds, and even to-day the Indians use the "travois," 
or poles attached to each side of a pony, the ends sliding over 
the ground like runners, carrying, on poles lashed across, 
the children and the various family appiutenances. 

The old sleighs, or pungs, which were first in use here 
were low of runner, very solidly and crudely btiilt, deep of 
body, and but one remove from the heavy work-sled. Whole 
townships availed themselves of the winter season to transport 
to nearby cities the marketable produce of their farms, and 
this annual peregrination was in early times an occasion of 
perhaps a month's journey, all food being carried, and camps 
being made at night along the roadside. Miscellaneous was 
the freight thus hatiled to market, and not imusually the 
entire outfit was disposed of — horses, sled and all — the owners 
returning on foot to their distant homes in the wilderness, 
repeating the journey the following year. 

We all remember those huge old six- or eight-horse boat- 
sleighs of otir younger days. No coimtry livery stable was 
complete as to outfit iinless supplied with one of them ; and 
freighted with its jolly load of from twenty to fifty, smothered 
in huge buifalo robes and waist-deep in straw, they were 
in nightly request for expeditions to some country tavern, 
where a dance and supper formed the invariable culmination 
of the evening's pleasure. Many of these celebrated old 
hostelries are standing to-day, although, alas ! now deserted. 



SLEIGHING AND SLEIGH HORSES 

Poorly conditioned as were once at most seasons the 
average country roads, and therefore unusable for rapid 
pleasure driving, it was found that these drawbacks did not 
obtain in winter, when a solid snowy footing covered the 
ground for many miles, and once the roadmaster, with his 
tributary ox-teams and the township's plow, had broken 
out the drifts, the settling of the fleecy material was a signal 
for the merry tinkle of sleighbells to resound on all sides, 
and every young man and his "best girl" improved the 
moonlight nights, and some of the afternoons, to get together 
with others of their ilk over the " fiats down to the Four 
Comers," and there rode up and down at the best paces of 
which their astonished Dobbins were capable; while quilting- 
bees, husking-parties, etc., found then their appropriate 
term, not only because leisure was more plentiful, but because 
travel was more easily possible to all and sundry. 

As the many prospered and were able to " keep a horse," 
the buggy or the carryall might be long in adorning the 
family bam, but the sleigh was surely there, and whatever 
the general family opinion regarding the winter solstice, 
honest old Billy witnessed its advent with disgust, as bringing 
to him in its train many trials and tribulations. 

Road-riding to wagon was not a general pursuit of the 
prosperous until about 1840, but sleighing- time was essentially 
the period of such outdoor recreation fifty years or more 
before that, and the horse who could step along at about a 
four-minute gait was pretty nearly the "boss of the road." 

Of late years, large sums have been paid for animals 
which could pull a cutter at a fast gait; and somehow there 
arises, in the exhilaration from the keen air, the sensation 
of gliding freely along, a demand for a rapidity of pace which 
the circumstances of the loose footing render tmsuitable and 

315 



DRIVING 

very tiring to the horse. Snow is always "cuppy" going, 
and even the sharpest-shod animal finds that he does not 
" get all he reaches for," but that his foothold is most insecure. 
Even on ice is this true, and the calks bite away the brittle 
surface most distressingly to him. 

Wild stories were formerly current of this and that horse 
trotting a full mile over ice in 2:15 or so, and halves in a 
minute, and carping skeptics used to affirm that this was 
accomplished through marking the distances by laying 
upon the ice a light bush which blew along toward the horse 
while he trotted toward it ! Certainly, if the timekeepers 
were conscientious, some such scheme must have been 
devised, for neither on snow or ice can any horse trot or pace 
anywhere near as fast as he can on dirt. This was conclu- 
sively proved at Beacon Park, Boston, where one winter 
(about 1885) a handsome whip was offered for the horse 
which should trot the fastest mile over its specially prepared 
measured mile iced surface. The fastest horses in Boston 
were conditioned for these trials, and, although limitless 
attempts were allowed and made, the best that any of them 
could do for the distance was a mile in 2 :;^o. Not every 
horse can "trot snow" or ice. It is the rapid-going, snappy, 
active animal whose legs are always luider him which makes 
the best hand at it, and the long-strider has not a chance 
with horses he can easily defeat over dirt. Plenty of boots 
must always be worn, for the sharp calks may make frightful 
wounds, and a leg-weary horse may hit or grab himself at 
any moment. Nor should your sleigh horse be too tall, as it 
will make it difficult to see from your low seat where you are 
going. The shafts should be taken up rather high — much 
higher than ordinary — to avoid the side swing of the shoulder 
motion at speed, and your steed must be "hitched" with 

316 






— ;v^>i ■ 






■«P^ ^ 



i 



SLEIGHING AND SLEIGH HORSES 

ample length of traces and of breeching. Extremely light 
sleighs are the fashion, but no good end is served by this, as 
over footing fit to speed a horse upon there will be a total 
absence of friction anyhow. 

So exhilarating to the passengers is the swift gliding 
motion that the horse is more usually overdriven — frequently 
cruelly so — in sleighing-time than at any other period, and 
drivers forget in their excitement the uncertain and cuppy 
character of even the very best and hardest snow footing. 
Occasional (or frequent) stops at road-houses, and the attend- 
ant absorption of one or more seductive "Tom and Jerrys" 
or "hot Scotches," add to the exhilaration, and bearing 
always in mind the fact that not for a year may another 
opportunity offer to enjoy the sport, the unfortunate beast 
is kept at his task to the limit of his powers and beyond. 
If we woiild hesitate to "brush" a horse a full mile over a 
dirt road, we may be very sure that a half-mile on snow is 
equally exhausting, and should let pleasure always be 
subservient to mercy. Look at any horse's footprints, even 
when jogging, and notice how he fails to hold what the foot 
takes, but slips back an inch or more; notice also the marks 
at speed, and figure the exhaustion you invite. Have you 
ever tried to run a hundred yards over a beach? Try it, 
and its surface will use you up more than a mile over a road. 

There is no kind of going that will so quickly and surely 
make a horse muscle-and-tendon sore as a "snow path," 
and especially in the shoulders will this be felt. Concussion 
is severe and exertion violent because of the insecure footing. 
Redouble the care of your fast horses during sleighing time; 
see that their shotilders are well steamed out, and massaged 
with a good liniment, and that a first-class leg-wash is also used, 
the muscles of the hind legs and loins being also well sham- 

317 



DRIVING 

pooed with the same, and bandages carefully applied to the 
legs overnight. The surface of the foot shoxdd be filled 
by gutta-percha packing, or by a leather pad, that the feet 
may not ball, and the long calks have full chance therefore to 
act and to get as good a foothold as possible. Good, strong 
quarter-boots are always advisable, and plenty of other 
boots as well. Leather bits should be used, if the horse 
drives kindly in them, or check-pieces at least put on that the 
cold steels may not frost-bite the lips and tongue. Great 
care must be taken when driving home not to jog too 
slowly a horse which has been thoroughly overheated by 
brushing. It is a mistaken kindness, and this is by no means 
the time to be easy with him. In his exhausted condition 
he is peculiarly susceptible to any chill, which if taken is 
likely to bring on serious complications, even to instant 
congestion and death. Keep him moving at a good pace, 
and get him home where he can be taken care of; while, if 
you have some distance to go, it will not be much trouble 
for you to carry a breast-cloth the width of his chest, which 
will buckle round the breast-collar and prevent the cold 
winds from striking there; surely you owe him this much 
attention for all the iun he has given you both on this day 
and many other days. 

You never ride half as fast as you think you do over 
snow, and all drivers are driving faster than their horses 
can go. 

Above all things, let your horse's head down when you 
are jogging out, or back home, unless he is one of those 
distorted brutes who pulls hard unless checked just so. We 
are hideously cruel in this matter of checking our road and 
speedway horses, and it is an outrage that it is not stopped 
by law. Not fifty per cent, of the horses that wear checks 

318 



SLEIGHING AND SLEIGH HORSES 

need them at all, and of the other fifty per cent. ftiUy half 
will go easier and faster if given more liberty in this respect. 
Because a horse has to be rigged thus and so in a sulky has 
no bearing upon his posttire in a wagon or sleigh, and almost 
invariably more liberty may be allowed, and distinct benefits, 
aside from the obvious hiimanity, accrue. 



THE END 



319 



INDEX 



"Acrobats," 232 

Advice in regard to breeding trotters, 

Agassiz, Max, 226 

Age of the horse, the, 239 

Air a necessity, 175 

"Alert," the, 225 

Amateur drivers' challenge trophy, the, 

279 
Amateur driving club, the first genuine, 

278 
Amateur, proper equipment of, 126 
Amateur road drivers in 1835, etc., 310 
American Coaching Club, the, 221 
American impetuosity, 242 
American vehicles standard in other 

countries, 21 
Appointments, eccentricities in, 145 
Appointments of the runabout, 139 
Appropriateness of outfit, 149 
"Aquidneck," the, 226 

Bachelor brougham, the, 28, 130 

Badminton driving, 36 

Baggage, 20 

Balance, changing the, 211 

Balancing and shoeing the roadster, 297 

Balking, 238 

Bandages, 170 

Barefoot horse, the, 187 

Beach, F. O., 225, 226 

Beach wagon, the, 29 

Beadleston, W. L., 227 

Bedding, 183 

Bell, Isaac, 224 

Bellyband, 143 

Beylard, E. D., 226 

Bits, variety of, 114 

Bloodgood, H. K., 227 

Blood spavin, 236 

Bodily condition, 250 

Bone spavin, 235 

Booth, W. Vernon, 226 

Boots and booting, 276 

Boston pony, the, 309 

Box, how to mount, 87 

how to sit on, 88 
Bran, middlings, etc., 181 
Breeches, 165 
"Bristle-burr," 65 
Bronson, Mr. Frederick, 58, 224 
Brougham, the, 28 
Browning, E., 9, 225 
Brown, Nelson, 9, 225 
Buggy, the American, 29 



Buggy, the first, 23 
Building, exposure of, 190 
Bull's Head, the, 309 
Buxton bits, 133 

Cabriolet, the, 28 

Calash, the, 8, 27 

Care of horses during sleighing time, 318 

Carman, R. F., 227 

Carriage-house furnishings, 170 

Carriages, 

care of, 195-200 

type of, 8 

when first in use in America, 8 
Carryall, the, 24, 29 
Cary, H. A., 226 
Cary, Seward, 227 
Catlin, W. S., 225 
Chaise, the lady's French, 138 
Char-a-banc , the, 27 
Checks for pair-horse driving, 73 
Chin-strap, 1 17 
Clover as food, 180 
Coach, arrival of, at tavern, 10 

the starting of, 10 
Coaches, decoration of, 10 

egg-shaped, 10 

in America, 8 

objection to, in England, 8 

springless, 11 
Coaching Club, the, 152, 221 
Coachman, essentials of, 155 

perquisites and commissions of , 159 

the thorough, 158 
Coach, the private, 26 
Colours for road coach, 135 
Colour vs. disposition, 241 
Competition, show-ring, 126 
Condiments to stimulate appetite, 181, 

182 
Conditioning a horse for matinee racing, 

293 
"Conestoga" coach, 12 

construction of, 15 

driver of, 16 

guard of, 1 7 

horses in front of, 15, 16 

weight of, 14 
"Constitution," the, 226 
"Contortionists," 232 
Convenience of arrangement, 193 
Com, 181 
Corns, 236 

Correct appointment, definition of, 125 
Co\mtry phaeton, the lady's, 138 



DRIVING 



Covering for bit, 1 18 
Crests or badges, 127 
Crib-biting, 239 
"Cricket," the, 225 
Curb-chain, 65, 117 
Curbs, 236 
Curricles, the, 8 
Cut feed, 182 

Daumont, the, 27 

Days, non-working, 294, 295 

Demand, increase in the foreign, for our 

carriages, 25 
Demi-daumont, the, 27 
Demi-mail, the, 30 
Democrat wagon, the, 29 
Device to keep tongue in place, 286 
Dock-tailed horse, 150 
Dog-carts, 30 
Door-panels, 146 
Drainage, 190, 192 
Drinking buckets, 170 
Driving as an art, 4 

as an education, 5 

as a pastime, 3 

for women, 6, 105-110 
Driving as related to piano playing, 56 
Driving for novices, 55 
Driving tours, 261 

horses for, 265 

necessaries for, 264 

party for, 264 

Earth floors, 194 
Economy in the stable, 171 
Elbow boots, 300 
Elegance, true, how attained, 125 
English harness, 30 
Enlarged joints, 237 
Enlarged legs, 237 
"Enterprise," the, 225 
"Essex," the, 226 
Eustis, W. C, 226 
Evans, Harry, 227 
Exhibitors, 207 

Expense, average, of a horse's yearly 
keep, 174 

Face and figure of grooms and helpers, 

161 
Facial muscle bit, 119 
Fahys, G., 228 
Faust, Guy, 36 

Features, the two principal, 240 
Feed, quantity of, 178 

essentials of, 179 

monotony of, 178 
Feed-boxes, 193 
Feeding, hours of, 178 
Final parade, 216 
Firing, 237 

' ' Fitness of things , ' 230 
Flaxseed jelly, 181 
Foreign courts, functions of, 126 



Forging, 303 

Four-in-Hand Club, the, 221 

Four-in-hand driving, 83 

harness for, 86 

horses for, 84 
Furs, 166 
Fownes, E., 227 
"Freak carriages," 26 
"Freelance," the, 227 
French chaise, the, 22 
" French checks," 148,151 
Fretsch, Hugo, 224 

Gag check, the, 65 

"General purpose" horse, 235 

Gentlemen's Driving Club of Cleveland, 

the, 278 
George the Fourth phaeton, 137 
Gig, the, 31 

appointments of, 138 
Gloves of coachman, 166 
Goddard buggy, the, 29 
"Good Times, ' the, 227 
Governess cart, the, 31 
Grain-bins, 171 
Grooming, 184, 185 

Hames terrets, 133 
" Hands," 108 
Hansom, the, 29 

appointments of, 140 
"Harlem Lane," 309 
Harlem race course, the old, 309 
Harmony between coachman and ve« 

hide, 155 
Harmony of surroundings, 126 
Harness, care of, 201 

construction of, 203-205 
Harness for road coach, 135 
Harness horse, height of, 234 

structure of, 232 
Harnessing, 62 

Harness-room furnishings, 171 
Harum, D., Esq., words of, 107 
Hats for coachman, 166 
Hay-chutes, 171 

Hay, quantity of, an average horse con- 
sumes daily, 179 
Hay tea, 182 
Heaves, 235 
Heavy harness, 147 
Heavy-harness driving, 94 
Heavy-harness horse, bitting of, iii 
"Height for purpose," 256 
High action, developing, 212 
Hill, how to go over a, 61 
Holding reins, 93-104 

accepted method of, 93 
Holland, Richard, 39 
Horse, how to speak to a, 61 
Horses, changing about of, 75 
Horse shows, 245 
Hulme, G. B., 227 
Hyde, J. H., 227 



"INDEX 



Improvements and changes, 26 
Interfering, 236 
Iselin, C. Oliver, 224 

JAY, Mr. William, 224 
ehus, old-time, 18 

western, 33,34, 35,36 
Jerk-line, driving with, 38 
"John," speech to, 159 
Juvenile driving, 55 

Kane, Colonel Delancey A., 223, 224 

Kay collars, 133 

"Kentucky blue grass," 180 

"Kentucky-brake" cart, the, 31 

Kip, L., 227 

Kits, 272 

Knee-action, excessive, 301] 

improving, 213 
Knee-hitting, 236 
Knee-knocker, 305 

Landau, the, 27 

equipments of , 134 
Landlord, the, as an oracle and news 

vender, 14 
League of Amateur Driving Clubs, the, 

279 
Leased stables, 175 
Length o£ body and neck, considera- 

ation of, 121 
Light-harness horse, the American, 113 
Light in the stable, igi 
Lightness, 271 
Linchpins, 24 

Liverpool and " elbow'' bits, 117 
Livery coats, 148 
Livery, detail of , 161-166 
Loin-straps, 147 
Long-tailed horses, 247 
Long toes, abnormally, 302 
Loops or "points," 95 
Lord Dundreary, remark of, 55 
Lorillard, Pierre, Jr., 225 
Lovelace, Governor, 9 
Love, S. C., 226 
"Lower bar," 116 
Low wheels, 29 

Macadam, the first, 12 
Mail phaeton, the, 30 

outfit for, 136 
Malet, Captain, 35 
Mares, 257, 258 
"Matinee," the, 30 
Matinee racing, 277 
McKean, H. P., 227 
"Memphis shoe," 300, 301 
Miller, E., 223 
Mixing- tub, a, 171 
Monk, Hank, 36 

story about, 37 
"Monmouth," the, 227 
Monogram or initial, 128 



Moore, Clarence, 226 

Moore, J. H., 226 

Morgan Messenger, 22 

Mouth, a horse's, how to treat, 58 

construction of, 112 
Mouthpiece, jointed, 117 
Muscles, 58 
Myers, Jim, story about, 38 

Navicular disease, 237 
"Neighbourhood coach," 53 
Neurotomy, operation of, 237 
New York and Philadelphia, first reg- 
ular coach line between, 9 
Nicolls, Governor, 9 
Night-clothing, 170 
Nose-band, 74, 114, 115 

Oats, 180 
Oat-sieve, an, 171 
Omnibus, the private, 28 

equipments of , 134 
OnwentsiaClub, the, 226 
One rein, driving upon, n8 
Ophthalmia, 235 
"Opposition" looping, 97 
Order in the stable, 172 
Outfit, "park," 143 

Pace, 62, 120 

Pacer, the, 295 

Pair-horse brougham, 131 

Pair-horse harness, 73 

Pair, what is implied by a, 71 

Pairs, 275 

Park drag, the, 132 

harness for, 133 
Park tandems, 82 
Partitions, solid and high stall, 189 
Pease, Levi, 12 
Perch, the, 27 
Peters phaeton, the, 137 
Phaetons, ladies', 30 
"Points," 100 
Port bit, 65 

Position in driving, 56, 57 
Process, the "cooling out," 294 
Professionals of earlier times, 309 
Proper feeding, 177 
Public coach horse, 46 
Puller, a, 112 

Quality, 248 
Quarter-cracks, 236 
Quitters, 236 

Race course at Hempstead, 9 
Racers of earlier times, 308 
Racing first sanctioned, 9 
Rations, basis of equine, 179 
Raw material, 211 
Read,G. R., 225 
Reins, how to hold the, S7 
how to shorten, 59 



DRIVING 



Reins, method of holding, 36 

Relation between feeding and exercise, 

177 
"Reliance," the, 227 
"Republic," the, 226 
Requirements for matinee horse, 284 
Reynardson, Birch, 35 
Riding-master, the, remarks of, 56 
Right-hand side of vehicles, sitting on, 

MS 
Ring-bones, 236 

Rivalry between competing lines, 9 
Rives, R. W., 224, 226 
Road, 6 1 
Road coach, the, 26 

equipments of , 135 
Road coaches, cost of new, 43 

cost of running, 52 

horses for, 44-48 

servants for, 44 
Road coaching, management of, 41, 42 

rates of, 43 

route of, 43 
Road-Driving and Appointment, 269 
Road-driving, harness for, 273 
Road-horse, 273 
Road-house proprietors, 311 
Road-rider, the, 307 
Road-riders of earlier times, noted, 308 
Road wagon, appointments of the, 140 
" Road wagon," the earliest, 8 
Roads, good, 263 
Roads, the early, 1 1 

the national, n 
Rockaway, 24, 29 

the modem, 8 
Room, ample, 190 
Roosevelt, J. R., 224 
Royal Mike, 305 
Rubber pad, the, 188 
Rubber tires, 29 
Runabout, the modem, 29 
Runs, quick, 11 

Salt, 182 

Saying, an old, 177 

Servants, their duties, 153 

"Setting fair," 173 

Seventh Avenue of to-day, 309 

Shafts, tandem cart, 143 

Shoeing, 185 

Charlier system of , 186 
Shoulder and muscle soreness, 303 
Show-ring competition, 209 
Shying, 238 

Side-bar buggy, the, 29 
Side-bone, 236 
Signals, 59 

Single and pair-horse victoria, 131 
Single brougham, equipment of, 129 

harness of, 130 

style of, 129 
Single-horse driving, harness for, 63 

reins for, 66 



Single-horse driving. Continued 

reins, how held in, 68 
Sitting on right side in driving, 149 
Slatted stall partitions, 175 
Slatted stalls, 189 
Sleigh horses, 305 
Sleighing and sleigh horses, 313 
Sleighing parties, 314 
Smith, J. Clinch, 225 
Snaffle, four-ringed, 65 
"Snow path," a, 317 
Snow, use of, 13 
Speed wagon, the, 30 

appointments of , 141 
Speedy-cutting, 236 
Spider-phaeton, the, 30 
Splints, 235 

"Squadron A," the, 227 
"Squatty-going" horses, 213 
Staljle equipment, 169-175 
Stable, temperature of, 191 
Stabling and stalls, 189 
Stage-coaching in America, 7 

in England, 7 
Stage lines in 1 8 1 2 , 11 

in 1818, 1829, 1832, 1838, 1773, 
1786, 12 
Stallion, the, 256, 257 
Stalls, arrangement of, 190 
Stanhope, the, 30 
Station wagon, the, 29 
Stomach, the horse's, 240 
String-halt, 236 
"Suppling," operation of, 118 
Surry, the, 29 

Tall men, vehicles for, 270 
Tandem, characteristic of, 142 

servant for, 143 
Tandem driving, 30, 77-82 

harness for, 80 

horses for, 79 
Tandem w.-.gon, 78 
"Tantivy," the, 226 
Taylor, "Shotgun," 36 
T-cart, the 30 
Teeth, 299 
"Tempest, ' the, 225 
"The Virr;inian," 36 
Thorough-pin, 235 
Tilbury, the, 31 

appointments of , 138 
Timothy hay, 179 
Tip, the, 187 
Tolls, 12 

Tongue, the, duties of, 121 
Training raw material, 211 
Transportation from Boston to New 

York, 8 
Travers, W. R., 226 
Trotter, shoeing a, 286 
Trotting-bred horse, the, 230 
Trotting on ice, 316 
Trotting tracks, 311 



INDEX 



Trotting trainer, stable of, 114 
True condition, 183, 184 
Turnpike, father of the, 12 
Turnpike, the first, 12 
Twichell, the Honourable Ginery, 12 
Type, American, 246 
Type-for-purpose, 247 
Types, appropriate, 249, 250 

Unchecking, 215 
Underhill, F. T., 34, 225 
"Utility" brougham, 131 

Vanderbilt, a. G., 226 

Vehicle, care of, for driving tours, 265 

Vehicles, colour of, 146 

Ventilation of stable, 191 

Veterinary, a, 175 

Vices, the, 238 

Victoria, the, 28 

high-backed, 146 

miniature, 147 
"Vivid," the, 225, 227 



Wagonette, the, 28 
Warburton, Barclay, 227 
Ware, F. M., 226 
Water, 182 

Westchester coach, the, 228 
Wheels, low and high, 269, 270 
Whip-hand, 59 
Whip, the 101-104 

how to hold, 61 
Whisky, the, 8 
Williams, C. P., 226 
Willis, Bee, 36 
Wind-galls, 235 
Windows, small, 146 
Wister, Mr. Owen, 36 
Woman's horse, essentials of, 108 

requisites of , 108 
Women the best judge of a well-propor- 
tioned horse, 230 
Woodruff, Hiram, 299 
Work, Mr. Frank, 292 

Yankee drivers, 13 • 

Young horse, the, 238 



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